Americans sustained 696 "video game-related injuries" over past five years

The US National Electronic Injury Surveillance System has reported that 696 people were injured due to video games from 2004 to 2009, but only 92 of these were from "Wii-style" games. What could the other injuries possibly be?

The report was a cornerstone of discussion at an annual pediatrics conference in San Francisco on Monday, where the group warned of the risks of playing video games. And we're not just talking about the risk of losing sleep, calling in sick, and getting fired. We're talking about real, physical injuries.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) broke down video game injuries into two groups: "traditional," meaning games that are usually played while sitting down on the couch, and "interactive," meaning motion-sensing games that require players to get up and move around. Over the last five years, interactive games only accounted for about 15% of all injuries. Of course, the Wii was only available for around three of those years.

However, "bystander injuries" were "significantly more" common when playing interactive games, the AAP said. Yeah, honestly, I can't even count the number of times I've whacked someone upside the head with my Wii Remote. And that's not even when my Wii was turned on.

The average age of a video game injury victim was 16.5, and the oldest one recorded was an 86-year-old. We're pretty sure that 86-year-old just fell out of her chair after winning a game of online canasta.

What we're still trying to wrap our heads around is how 604 people were injured playing video games that require no physical activity whatsoever. But then again, once 3D gaming takes off, there may be anall-out epidemic.

Source:The Register

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