Poke ’Em And They Will Go
The Power Of Pokémon Go To Help Combat Physical Inactivity In Teenagers In The Blue Mountains
In recent years, due to advancements in technology, there has been a significant lack of physical activity amongst many teenagers in the Blue Mountains. This has resulted in the formation of Australia’s first obesity focused family centre called the Nepean Blue Mountains Family Obesity Service. In order to try and curve this trend, there are many actions that can be taken.
Introduce Pokémon Go! Although criticised by many, society saw an influx of teenagers venturing outside their houses to search for their favourite Pokémon when first released. Many teenagers were quick to take to it as they could finally experience the joy of actually being a Pokémon Hunter, rather than having to use a joy pad to move an avatar around in a virtual space. Essentially, this locative media added a physical element to moving the player’s avatar, as opposed to the traditional sedentary way of the past.
Pokémon Go even created specialised networks amongst the fans, many quickly adopting one of the three major teams in the game (Mystic, Valour and Instinct). There is even a Facebook group dedicated to the discussion of where to obtain Pokémon in the Blue Mountains, ‘PokéMountains Go’. Pokémon Go is not the only case of nostalgia encouraging teenagers to exercise. Many did walkathons and “Jump Rope for Heart” whilst at primary school. These fond memories, if triggered, could help make teenagers get off the couch and get active.
However, let us backtrack here. Pokémon Go is a great remediation of the game many young adults grew up playing, though that is not the main point of this blog. There is still a large number of teenagers who play video games in a sedentary way (40 per cent even have video games in their bedrooms). When developing a game such as Pokémon Go, there would have been a problem which was put forth by VR researchers Ruth Aylett and Sandy Louchart known as the “narrative paradox”. “On one hand the author seeks control of a narrative in order to give a satisfactory structure. On the other hand a participating user demands the autonomy to act and react without explicit authorial constraint” (2004).
In the Blue Mountains, the first family focused multidisciplinary clinic to help combat obesity and obtain a healthy weight has opened. This is not the first instance in which something has been agreed upon to help the health of teenagers in the Blue Mountains. At the signing of the Walk21 International Charter for Walking, the Blue Mountains City Council agreed to tackle obesity by integrating more features to encourage walking. The implementation of walking friendly features in town planning in the Blue Mountains should help counteract the fact that only seven per cent of teenagers by the age of 17 are reaching the recommended levels of physical activity.
Pokémon Go can definitely be a catalyst for change in regards to teenagers’ health in the Blue Mountains. A study by the University of Queensland has found that playing active video games (such as the Xbox Kinect) could help overweight and obese children lose weight. In fact, the first person in the UK to catch all available Gen 1 Pokémon managed to tackle the weight he has tried to get rid of for the past 10 years.
The need to walk when playing Pokémon Go is a driving force behind how it can help teenagers lose weight. The introduction of the Buddy Pokémon in the game is a great example of this. In the game, there are some Pokémon that are hard to evolve. To help allow players to evolve these Pokémon, the player can select it to be their buddy. The player obtains a virtual candy for walking a set distance with the Pokémon. Once a set amount of candies are accumulated, the player can then evolve their buddy Pokémon.
Along with the Buddy System in the game, the hatching of eggs is important to game play. It, like the Buddy System, is reliant on the player walking. To hatch eggs in the game, the player either has to walk two, five or ten kilometres. Rare Pokémon sometimes only spawn from eggs, so many people walk great distances to obtain all available Pokémon.
Along with improving physical health, Pokémon Go can help with mental health. Physical exercise helps release chemicals that can boost people’s moods (specifically serotonin and endorphins). Mental health is a big problem amongst teenagers in the Blue Mountains, so I am proposing organisations like Headspace harness technology like Pokémon Go. In Pokémon Go, people can drop Lures, these attract Pokémon to spawn close to Pokéstops. Organisation such as Headspace could host events where they drop Lures at Pokéstops. During these events they could discuss mental health with Pokémon Go players and educate them in how exercise can help combat negative aspects of mental health.
The Blue Mountains is a perfect environment to go Pokémon hunting as it has many bush walks along with lakes people can visit. This should help encourage teenagers to play Pokémon Go, as some types of Pokémon only spawn in certain area types (e.g. Water type Pokémon spawn near water).
In conclusion, Pokémon Go is a great remediation of the game which was very popular for teenagers when they were young. It encourages its player to walk far and wide to achieve outcomes in the game. Players obtain virtual rewards that mimic physical rewards, something the popular Fitbit devices don’t offer. People buy Fitbits to encourage them to exercise more but in actual fact they don’t generally improve a wearer’s health. Pokémon Go deeply encourages players to walk and is not merely a high tech pedometer like a Fitbit. Use the QR codes below to start your own Pokémon journey!
