Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
UK gamers are ‘much likelier’ than non-gamers to frequent the gym and have an exercise regime there, according to new research by YouGov.
In a collection of data from rolling surveys highlighted on the YouGov website, 30% of gamers in Britain said they ‘try to hit the gym as often as possible’, compared to 13% of non-gamers.
The news follows a separate report last year, which found that UK gamers are more likely to exercise at least once a week than non-gamers.
Looking at the newer data, beyond the UK, some of the biggest differences between the two groups emerged in Australia and the US. Nearly half of Aussie gamers, compared to just over a tenth of non-gamers, said they try to hit the gym as often as possible (45% vs 12%), while in the US the figures stood at 42% of gamers and 17% of non-gamers.
And in India, three-fifths of gamers say they try to hit the gym frequently (58% vs 33% of non-gamers), with UAE data similar (56% vs 26%).
You can see more from the chart below, with the red circles representing non-gamers and the purple dots representing gamers. UK gamers and those in other territories are included:
The findings line up with the NSE (National Student Esports) Annual Student Survey, which found that 59% of its community are physically active three times a week or more (with a minimum 30 minutes of exercise such as running or traditional sport that raises breathing rate), according to NSE managing director Alex Coulson on Linkedin.
Gamers are also more likely to use health tracking, diet and fitness apps, although YouGov says ‘the differences are less pronounced’ compared to the other attitudes it measures.
53% of UK gamers agree with the statement, “I can’t get around without my phone”, compared to 45% of non-gamers.
YouGov data also showed that gamers are ‘substantially likelier’ to be fans of football than non-gamers (34% of gamers vs 27% of non-gamers in the UK).
Australian gamers are nearly three times as likely as non-gamers to say they follow football regularly (28% vs 10%).
The data was taken from YouGov Profiles, which is based on ‘continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire’. YouGov says that its Profiles data in the US, Britain, UAE and Australia is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region and race.
Other YouGov reports last year found that esports fans in the UK were warming to cryptocurrency, and 4% of Brits are interested in betting on esports.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
