Modern kids play video games incessantly. Most parents complain that they have to restrain their children from spending excessive time playing video games. So how much video game time should you allow your kids?
A Spanish study studied nearly 2500 children between the ages of 7 and 11, who played video games from 0 to 18 hours a week. The researchers found out that:
- Children who played for more than 9 hours a week had behavioural and conduct problems. MRI scans showed that such children had changes in the parts of the brain that control involuntary movement.
- Children who played one to 2 hours a week had better physical responses to visual cues.
- There was no difference in attention and memory skills between children who played video games and those who did not.
Based on these findings, the researchers suggested that you should discourage children from spending more than an hour of playing video games a day.
The American Academy of Pediatrics or AAP recommends video play time of between 30 to 60 minutes a day on school days and less than 2 hours on non-school days. For children under 6 years of age, AAP suggests less than 1 hour a day of total screen-time. This includes video games as well as other electronic media such as television, mobile phones, and computers.
First published on: 19th September, 2016
Image credit: Alexa on Pixabay
Last updated on: 10th August, 2022