Excess Television Watching as a Toddler
Increases the Risk of ADHD as a Child.
A recent study gives yet one more reason to pull the plug on the
electronic babysitter. According to a study by Children’s Hospital
in Seattle, excess television watching as a toddler increases the
risk of ADHD as a child.
The study showed that for each hour of television watching daily
by toddlers is linked to a 10 percent higher risk at age 7 of ADHD
behavior. This is the first longitudinal study using a large
national sample to demonstrate the association between excessive
television viewing and ADHD.
Results of the study entitled “Early Television Viewing and
Subsequent Attentional Problems in Children” was published in the
April 2004 issue of Pediatrics. A
press release by
Children’s Hospital provides a brief overview of the ADHD
television connection. A
Seattle Times
article provides a more in-depth view of this study.
This study showed that the more television the child spent
watching as a toddler, the more likely the child was to display
ADHD symptoms later.
Researchers assessed the toddler’s exposure to television at the
age of 1 and then 3. Mothers of these toddlers were asked the
number of hours of television their child watched on a typical
weekday and a typical weekend day. At the age of 7 mothers rated
their child's ADHD symptoms using a standardized behavior rating
scale. Researchers compared the parent ratings to information
about the child's exposure to television that had been collected
during prior portions of the survey. In this way researchers could
look at whether children who had watched more television as a
toddler had higher ADHD symptom ratings as a child.
The amount of television that children watched as 1 and
3-year-olds was quite high: an average of 2.2 hours/day at age 1
and 3.6 hours/day at age 3. About 15 percent of toddlers were
reported to watch more than 5 hours per day at age 1 and more than
6.5 hours/day at age 3. Some mothers reported that their child
watched more than 16 hours/day.
The toddler whose television watching was in the top 15% of the
sample at age 1 were 28 percent more likely to display Attention
Deficit Disorder symptoms at age 7.
The same pattern was found for television viewing at age 3,
providing consistent evidence for a link between high levels of
television watching as a toddler and high levels of Attention
Deficit Disorder symptoms as a child.
Researchers controlled other variables that might be associated
with greater ADHD symptoms to test whether more early television
viewing was associated with more ADHD symptoms at age 7. These
factors included emotional support in the home during early
childhood, maternal depression, child's gestational age at birth,
gender, ethnicity, maternal use of alcohol or tobacco during
pregnancy, mothers' education, number of young children in the
home, and single vs. two-parent family.
It is important to note that this study shows a link between
excessive television watching as a toddler and ADHD as a child.
Parents should not be afraid to allow their toddler to watch a
small amount of educational and age appropriate television.
This study focused only on toddler television watching habits and
its effect of ADHD. Further studies are needed to determine
whether excessive television watching at later ages may also
contribute to ADHD behaviors, and if limiting television watching
will reduce ADHD behavior.
Also of interest is a new study that shows
that exercise improves
focus and concentration. Another recent study shows that
spending time outdoors can
significantly reduce ADHD symptoms. So...instead of watching television,
take a brisk walk instead. Your brain will thank you.
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