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Two hours on screen too much for kids, says study

Odds of ADHD-like symptoms jump sevenfold
2004 ScreenStudy CC 6147
ON SCREEN — New research from the U of A released Wednesday finds that kids 5 and under who spent more than two hours a day watching TV, computers, or smartphones are seven times more likely to have ADHD symptoms than those who spent less than half an hour a day on them. Researchers recommend that parents limit pre-schoolers to less than half an hour on screens a day. CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette

Kids who spend more than two hours a day watching screens are seven times more likely to have symptoms of ADHD by the time they’re five, a new study suggests.

University of Alberta pediatrics professor Piush Mandhane co-authored a study published in PLOS ONE Wednesday on the effects of screen time on inattention problems in preschoolers.

While other studies have shown links between inattentiveness and too much time spent on TVs, computers and digital devices, most of those studies were done on teens, Mandhane said. Previous studies on preschoolers had mixed results.

Mandhane’s team is doing a massive multi-year study of some 3,455 preschoolers in four Canadian cities, including Edmonton. While the study's main focus is asthma and allergies, it's also looking at the effects of screen time. Parents in the study are asked to report the amount of time their kids spend watching any electronic device (iPad, smartphone, TV, etc.) and to track the appearance of behavioural problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as the kids grow older.

Of the 2,400-odd kids for which they had data, Mandhane’s team found 13 per cent of five-year-olds and 42 per cent of three-year-olds exceeded Canadian guidelines for daily screen time (two hours a day for five-year-olds and one a day for three-year-olds). The team found youths who had more than two hours of screen time a day were 5.9 times more likely to have clinically significant inattentiveness problems than those with less than half an hour a day, and were seven times more likely to have ADHD-like symptoms.

“These are not small effects,” Mandhane said.

“They are huge effects.”

Mandhane emphasized having ADHD-like symptoms is not the same as having ADHD, and that only a very small number of kids in the study (24) showed such symptoms.

Mandhane said the team found youths who spent more than two hours on screens a day were much less likely to get their recommended 10 hours of sleep a day.

“More screen time equals less sleep time,” he said, which could explain these behavioural problems: the kids wake up tired and can’t pay attention.

Mandhane said the team found no link between screen time and aggressive behaviour.

Sports help

The team also found youths who spent two or more hours a week in organized physical activity were less likely to show behavioural problems such as inattentiveness. Unorganized play had a similar but less obvious effect, Mandhane said.

“How you structure a child’s day, sleep, screens, sweat ... really influences their behaviour,” he concluded.

Glenn Wilson, a phys-ed teacher and scholar at Leo Nickerson familiar with this study, said he had seen similar behavioural problems in kids at his school due to too much screen time.

“I’ve seen way too many kids come to school dead-tired because they’ve been watching YouTube,” he said, recalling one student who told him he’d been watching Game of Thrones videos until 2 a.m.

Economics make it tempting to use the iPad as a babysitter, but doing so robs kids of vital social experience and makes for unruly, inattentive students, Wilson said.

“There’s no replacement for sports with kids,” he said – get kids enrolled in them, and they won’t have time to spend on screens and will learn more about teamwork, communication and problem-solving.

This study reinforces the importance of physical activity in a child’s development, said Phil McRae, a U of A education professor studying the effects of digital technology on youths through the Growing Up Digital project.

“We should think about this as a digital hygiene issue,” he said, which means paying attention to the context and content of screen time. Watching and talking about Sesame Street with your kid is probably better than having them play a violent video game alone.

Mandhane said this study suggests less than half an hour of screen time a day was ideal for kids under five. His team plans to re-examine kids in the study once they turn eight to see how the content of screen time affects anxiety and depression.

The study is available at bit.ly/2DkeOE5.


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
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