Poor concentration linked to prolonged computer use?

An interesting article that i found on the Daily Health Bulletin:

Too Much Computer and Screen Time Leading to Poor Concentration

New research in the July issue of Pediatrics finds that too much computer, TV or time spent playing the video game unit can increase the risk of poor concentration in both children and young adults. Most parents can tell you this isn’t the first research to point out the potential down side of too much screen time.

In this latest work, lead researcher Edward Swing and a team of psychologists from Iowa State University compared subjects who spent less than two hours a day watching TV or playing video games to those who watched more. The two hour time limit is the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics for kids over 2 years old.

The research team looked at two different age groups, 1,300 children in the third, fourth and fifth grades over a period of 13 months. They also studied 210 college students in a one-time evaluation. Video game and TV time were reported by both the children and their parents, teachers were reporting the attention problems for the students, including if a child had trouble staying on task, paying attention, not interrupting other children’s work or showed problems in other ways that can signal issues with attention. The college students offered a self-report on attention issues.

Middle school students spent an average of 4.26 hours each day watching TV or playing a video game. Older students spent 4.82 hours a day in front of the screen. Those who did more than the AAP recommendation were from 1.6 to 2.2 times more likely to have attention issues that were outside the norm according to Swing. Middle schoolers were a bit less likely to have attention problems than college students.

According to Dr. David Elkind, professor emeritus of child development at Tufts, “There may well be a relation between television viewing and attention problems.” Elkind is also the author of The Power of Play. He points out that teacher ratings of attention issues have been shown in other work not to be consistent as time goes on.

Swing points out that in his study, more than one teacher rated the children, and that the ratings tended to agree.

The worrisome thing for many in the medical world is that ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is ten times more common today than it was just two decades ago. While experts believe that the condition has some genetic basis, it is also likely that things in the environment (food additives, sugar) are contributing to the rise in numbers. Excessive use of media is another of the suspected culprits.

Both video games and TV are equal culprits according to the research.

But since we can’t un-invent all the entertainment that takes place on the screen, we must learn to understand and adapt to it. Anyone familiar with MTV has had a good long while to become accustomed to the sped up pace, quick edits every second or two. The pacing of other shows and movies has sped up too. These faster paced shows/games increase the risk of attention issues because the young mind becomes primed to accept that pace. Real life doesn’t happen fast enough to hold attention.

Games that feature problem solving instead of more fast-paced action are probably the best choice. And while no expert can give you an exact number of hours when screen time leads to poor concentration, the AAP guidelines of no more than two hours a day are a sensible reference point. Sorry kids.

Today i noticed that my own kids are starting to show some concentration issues during their homeschooling time, and i realized that there might be a connection between this problem and the amount of time they spend at the computer (poor kids, they have it in their genes, i guess...).

This article seems to confirm my thoughts, so i think that we are gonna cut on computer time for them, and bring in more interaction with other kids, outdoor time, educational Jewish games...