An interesting Article on AD/HD

The following article was found online at http://www.limitv.org/tvaddadhd.htm
and sent to me. It is NOT an article written by me. I do not know the authors but it is definately worth reading.


Watching TV May Cause ADD Symptoms And Permanently "Rewire" A Child's Developing Brain

How much TV does your child watch?

You may want to reduce it as much as possible due to the shocking results of a recent
study in the April, 2004 issue of Pediatrics.

This study says that very young children who watch television face an increased risk of
attention deficit problems by school age, because TV might over-stimulate and permanently
"rewire the developing brain".

According to the study, for every hour of TV watched daily, two groups of children, ages 1 and 3, faced a 10 percent increased risk of having attention problems at age 7.

According to the authors of the study, "ADHD affects between 4 and 12% of US children and
is the most common behavioral disorder of childhood". Several studies confirm that
the rapidly changing images, scenery and events on television may shorten children's
attention spans.

The author of the study, D. Christakis, M.D., says, "The newborn brain develops very rapidly
during the first two to three years of life. It's really being wired" during that time.

We know from studies of newborn rats that if you expose them to different levels of visual
stimuli, the architecture of the brain looks very different" depending on the amount of
stimulation..."

As we all know, school/learning activities require a longer attention span and one of the
most common complaints among parents and teachers, is that children just don't seem
to want to pay attention.

Here are a few suggestions to remedy the
situation:

1. Limit TV watching to one or two hours per week.

2. If your child is younger, limit video game playing and computer time because it
inhibits visual skill development needed for reading later on.

3. Take your child to visit with friends and play more outdoor games
(this develops the visual skills such as eye-hand coordination and tracking
they need for reading also)

4. Read to your child daily for at least 15 minutes and encourage them
to create a "movie in their mind" of what you are reading to them about
(this will increase their visual memory skills needed in all school
activities and during test taking)

5. Expose your child to some classical music a few times a week because research says this
enhances their cognitive thinking skills