Children who watch too much television could be overstimulating their brains, think real life is boring in comparison, and be missing out on activities such as reading and sport which promote and encourage concentration.

A ground-breaking new study from Otago University has found that children who watch too much television are more likely to have difficulty paying attention when they are teenagers.

The study is the first in the world to look at the possible long-term link between television viewing in childhood and attention problems in adolescence.

Researchers found children who watched more than two hours of television a day (and particularly those who watched more than three hours) had above-average symptoms of attention problems in adolescence.

Symptoms included short attention span, poor concentration and being easily distracted…

“Although teachers and parents have been concerned that television may be shortening the attention span of children, this is the first time that watching television has been linked to attention problems in adolescence,” said Dr Hancox, who is also Deputy Director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit.

“This latest study adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests parents should take steps to limit the amount of TV their children watch.”

He said it wasn’t just television viewing time that should be limited, but screen time of any kind, including computer and DVD time.

The study cited several possible explanations for the connection between television and attention problems.

The first is that the rapid image and scene changes may overstimulate children and affect brain development, particularly in younger children, whose brains are less developed. “People’s brains get trained to expect everything to change very rapidly … so it’s very difficult to hold your attention,” said Dr Hancox.

The second is that life on television, with its fast-paced editing and attention-grabbing techniques, makes real life seem boring. Children who watch a lot of television become less tolerant of slower-paced activities such as homework…

Source: New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10461733