Gotta catch ‘em all: Impact of Pokémon Go on physical activity, sitting time and perceptions of physical activity and health at baseline and three months follow up

Objective: The objective was to examine differences in physical activity, sitting time and perceptions of physical activity and health between Pokémon Go users and nonusers at baseline (launch of the application in the United Kingdom) and 3-month follow-up.

Materials and Methods: The self-administered, short version of the 7-day recall, International Physical Activity Questionnaire, was adapted to develop the “Physical Activity and Pokémon Go questionnaire,” which was distributed using social media. Four weeks after the launch of the application, 461 participants (n = 193 male, n = 265 female, n = 3 transgender) had completed the questionnaire. At 3-month follow-up, 127 participants repeated the questionnaire.

Results: At baseline, mixed models analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed main effects for Pokémon Go users versus nonusers in the amount of days of vigorous physical activity, moderate physical activity, and walking (All P < 0.01). Users reported that they undertook less days of vigorous physical activity than nonusers, but more days of moderate physical activity and walking. There were no differences in body mass index, minutes of vigorous or moderate physical activity, and walking, or sitting on weekdays (All P > 0.05). Repeated measures ANOVA identified increased sitting on weekdays (P < 0.05), but maintained vigorous, moderate and walking physical activity behaviors in users who remained users.

Conclusion: Pokémon Go use can increase the frequency of days of physical activity benefitting health. Users at both time points maintained their physical activity behaviour, but increased sitting time on weekdays, highlighting that another intervention to prevent sitting is needed.