According to a study, limiting the time spent in front of a screen for children related to a better cognition



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The study included approximately 4,500 American children aged 8 to 11 and measured their habits against the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth. It found that 51% of children had slept nine to eleven hours a night without a break, 37% had two hours or less per day for recreational testing and 18% had at least 60 minutes. of accumulated physical activity per day.

Only 5% of children participating in the study met all three recommendations; 30% did not encounter any.

On average, participants slept 9.1 hours a night, spent 3.6 hours a day on the screen and reached the goal of physical activity 3.7 days a week.

The researchers found that with each participant having met a recommendation, there was a positive association with overall cognition, which included memory, attention, processing speed and language. According to the study, those who met all three had the most "superior" overall cognition, followed by those who responded to sleep and screen time recommendations and finally the time recommendation of ## 147 ##. 39; screen.

"We know that the behaviors of physical activity, sleep, and screen time can have an independent impact on a child's cognitive health, but these behaviors are never taken into account." said Jeremy Walsh, lead author of the study. Fellow at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, where the research was conducted. "We really had the opportunity here to see how to respond to each of these guidelines and to meet all of the guidelines pertaining to cognition in a large sample of American children."

Parents, stop feeling guilty about the time spent on TV

The study took data from the cognitive development study of the adolescent brain funded by the National Institutes of Health and included surveys done by parents on the amount of sleep a child has. , its frequency of physical activity and the time spent in front of the screen.

Walsh believes that the 30% of participants who do not adhere to any of the guidelines are the ones who have the most to gain from adjusting daily behaviors.

"They stand to gain because they do not benefit from these guidelines," Walsh said.

"This new research adds to existing evidence and supports concerns about screen time and potential negative links to cognitive development in children," said Kirsten Corder, Senior Researcher in the Epidemiology Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society. MRC of Cambridge University. She did not participate in the study.

She suggested that future research could benefit from data collection methods that provide more accurate results than questionnaires based on self-reported information.

Other organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, have put in place guidelines to help manage the time spent in front of a children's screen. The organization suggests to set guidelines, to know who your child is talking to, to know what he's doing, to encourage physical recreation and to create "zones without technology", such as bedrooms. The amount of screen time recommended depends on the age of the child.

Walsh thinks having good screening habits could encourage use in the recommended durations and the benefits that accrue from it.

"I think the overriding goal is for parents to consider their child's 24-hour day and set realistic rules or limits for how long they stay on their screens, with the rules of bedtime . " and make sure to encourage physical activity. "

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