Too Much Screen Time Can Threaten Attention Span in Kids and Young Adults!
Article by: Dr Zoe Arugay

Photo: Jupiter

Watching TV for 2 hours or less was unthinkable when I was a kid. Then you have to allot some game time, too, cause I just can't stand not having advanced to the next stage or whatever. The most difficult part of the evening is getting myself to study. I can't get myself to focus, but I've always been like that with or without TV or video games.


A kid's life is stressful - how do you manage school, extra-curricular activities, TV, video games, and homework in one day? Unfortunately, something's gotta give, and according to studies done on the ill effects of too much screen time, it would seem like you gotta sacrifice your time in front of the tube.


The latest findings conducted by Edward Swing, a graduate student at Iowa State University and published on the July issue of Pediatrics point out that excessive TV time can double the risk of attention problems in children and young adults. The study compared participants who watched TV or played video games less than two hours a day - the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics for children aged 2 and older - to those who watched more.


"Those who exceeded the AAP recommendation were about 1.6 times to 2.2 times more likely to have greater than average attention problems," he said.


In addition, the middle school kids he studied were a little less likely than the college students to have attention problems with excess TV and video game participation.

The study was participated by teachers who reported if children had problems with staying on task, paying attention, if they interrupted other children's work, or showed problems in other areas that reflected trouble with attention. College students, on the other hand, did self-reports on their attention problems.


Researchers noted that some teachers’ ratings tend to not be consistent over time, and this may be an important variable. That also gets you thinking about how college students rate themselves, too. Swing stated that he hopes to study that next. Meanwhile, he said, the recommendation of less than two hours a day of screen time seems prudent.

This supposed lack of focus got me in medicine and produced a doctor in me. Maybe that's why I am how I am right now (and I don't even know if that's a good thing).