Los Angeles: Playing Pokemon Go regularly may add an extra 41 days to your life, a new study has claimed, despite concerns that the popular augmented reality game could be a health hazard.
The health benefits of Pokemon Go, which encourages gamers to hunt Pokemon characters in real life by exploring their locale, have been lauded since its launch earlier this year.
Despite the injuries it has led to, such as people walking into dangerous areas, the new study suggests the game could measurably affect life expectancy.
Researchers at Stanford University in the US and Microsoft found that engaged Pokemon Go players walked an extra 1,473 steps a day, roughly 25 per cent more activity, while playing the augmented reality game.
For people aged 15 to 49 an extra 1,000 steps a day could amount to 41.4 additional days of life expectancy, according to the researchers.
After tracking the activity of almost 32,000 Pokemon Go users for three months using an accelerometer and a gyrometer, the researchers found that the game "significantly increased" levels of physical activity, 'The Telegraph' reported. In particular, it has health benefits for people who are not traditionally that active.
"These increases are not restricted to already active and healthy individuals, but also reach individuals with low prior activity levels, and overweight or obese individuals," researchers said.
They also found that Pokemon Go was more likely to improve the movement of less active people than other health apps.
