The journal Pediatrics reveals that children who spend more than two hours a day watching television or playing video or computer games may suffer from ADHD.
Psychologists at Iowa State University studied 1,300 children in third, fourth and fifth grades as well as 210 college students. On average, they all spent 4.26 hours in front of a screen. This is well below the national average of 8 hours per day among those aged 8-18, according to a past study.
Researchers reported that youth who spent more than two hours watching television or playing video games had a diminished ability to concentrate. They were also less able to do their schoolwork.
Researchers recommend parents limit the time their children spend in front of a screen to one or two hours max.
They add that video games can cause the brain to over-stimulate because of the action and light and sound effects. Youth may start thinking that this type of stimulation is the norm, making real life and school boring.