Pokemon gets kids moving over holidays
Pokemon Go fever well and truly hit the Hutt Valley over the past fortnight’s school holiday break.
But it wasn’t just school students stumbling around with their phones in hand trying to catch ‘em all.
Adults, young and old, travelled from as far away as Wellington’s eastern suburbs to try and find rare Pokemon in the Hutt Valley.
Popular spots included the park around Maidstone Max.
Although the game was not exclusively designed to encourage physical activity, it did provide some motivation for players to walk around rather than sitting on a couch.
Regional Public Health nutrition and physical activity advisor Jessica Jones said anything that encouraged increased physical activity, such as Pokemon Go, had potential public health benefits.
‘‘Technology that boosts physical activity is a growing area with the development of many mobile phone apps and fitness trackers,’’ she said.
‘‘It is also important to remember when out catching Pokemon, the general safety rules such as looking before crossing the road, going Pokemon hunting in groups (particularly after dark), and looking out for Team Rocket!’’
In the original Pokemon television series, Team Rocket were the bad guys trying to get in the way of hero Ash Ketchum.
Alongside the hordes of Pokemon Go players of all ages, Hutt Valley libraries also sought to capitalise on the game’s popularity.
Upper Hutt Library is itself a PokeStop, an area in the game where Pokemon hunters, also known as Pokemanters, can receive items to help them progress through the game when they physically visit that spot.
In Lower Hutt, libraries promotion and online publishing coordinator Kylie Armstrong said their libraries had ‘‘lured’’ Pokemon players inside during the holidays.
A Pokemon Go meet-up was also held last Wednesday which attracted a strong crowd.
‘‘It was a bit hard to count,’’ Armstrong said.
‘‘There were about 50 players we interacted with.’’
Are you addicted, page 8