Last month I wrote about the joys of gaming, and how children who regularly play video games in a general capacity can reap many benefits. Some games have even helped scientists make incredible breakthroughs, and we should remember that before we worry or listen to people complain about kids playing video games.

All of that said, the reverse is equally true and as important to remember: most things can be harmful in excessive amounts. A 20-year-old man who was supposedly addicted to Xbox recently died due to a blood clot he developed. The blood clot apparently developed from sitting in one spot for several hours—as gamers can end up doing, for sure—and many people are using this example as a battle cry against gaming, claiming it can lead to death.

I’m not a gamer, and neither is my daughter or my husband, really; we casually play video games once in a great while. Usually we play board games instead. However, I think I’m more at risk of such a health concern than any gamer I know, because most of the gamers I know have jobs and other activities in their lives. Gaming is only a part of what they do, and they don’t play games for lengthy hours on end. I, however, work while sitting, as do many Americans, and that is just as dangerous if not even more so.

I don’t hear anyone crying out against working or sitting at work, of course (though you’ll find a few articles about how sitting for long periods can be dangerous to your health); that would be anti-free market or anti-capitalist or whatever else sounds scary and big-worded enough to make people panic. We might hear people being advised to take the stairs, get up every half hour and stretch, or take a walk to the water cooler, but we’re not about to hear anyone say, hey, reduce, downsize, start growing your own food and move your body instead of sitting all day in a cubicle!

No, let’s talk about the dangers of a leisure activity instead. That way, we don’t make anyone miss work, but we can make them even more miserable than they already are by taking away one of their pleasures—or at least making them think that their activities could kill them, adding more stress to their lives (from which they’re already likely trying to escape from the gaming to begin with). Oy.