Dying To Play Video Games, Except Not Really

Hurricane survival hazards don't usually involve video games. But a recent study linked a few cases of carbon-monoxide poisoning to digital entertainment in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, which swept through Texas last fall.

Here's what happened. A few parents decided to plug in their gas-powered generators and allow the kids to play the Playstation, Wii or Xbox to keep entertained. Add some poor ventilation and lack of proper precautions, and the result was not unexpected — some children ended up with carbon-monoxide poisoning. Thankfully, no one died.

Researchers at the University of Texas found that 75 percent of children treated for carbon monoxide poisoning caused by generators were playing video games. That sounds scary, until you look closer and realize that they only talked to nine families to figure out why the generators were being used. Taking 75 percent of those nine cases translates to roughly six or seven children.

Still, it was enough of a trend to get published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics, with the study titled "Dying to Play Video Games."

LiveScience has previously looked at many different effects of video games on kids and adults, both potentially positive and negative. Survey results by the Pew Internet & American Life Project have confirmed that video gaming has become a major part of the social fabric in the United States, with nearly all kids now playing video games of some type.

But in this case, researchers might want to simply educate people about the hazards of gas-powered generators. Carbon-monoxide poisoning is the same whether you plug in the generator to run the fridge or the video game console.