Worst notes for the abuse of new technologies
The time that children and adolescents spend on the screens of electronic devices it affects their school performance. This is warned by a new study, which ensures that adolescents who spend more time with these devices they have much lower scores that those who devote time to other activities away from mobile or computers.
Computers, television, Smartphone, tablets ... we are surrounded by new technologies and, although there are many advantages and benefits and facilities that transmit in daily life, their risks are not few. As shown, this new research done by experts from the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) and published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical.
Sedentary and school performance
There are many studies that talk about the negative effects of screens on children and adolescents: they increase insomnia, hypertension and even can make them more violent in certain cases. On this occasion, this work focuses on a new aspect: how these new technologies affect school performance, and the conclusion does not stop well to screens.
Precisely that was the objective of the work: as lThe effects of the screens on physical and mental health were already known, he wanted to find out his relationship with the school. The epiemiólogo Kirsten Corder and his equipment of the prestigious British university analyzed for it to a group of 845 students of about 15 years that studied in secondary schools of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. The levels of activity and sedentary lifestyle of these students were studied and then these data were compared with their results at school (information that was taken from the ROOTS study).
Activity during sedentary time
In this way, the researchers focused on what the students were doing during the time they were sitting. Thus, it was found that half of the about four hours a day to watch TV, entertain with your mobile or play with the tablets u computers, a figure that double the recommended by health organizations for those ages.
The problem is not that teenagers spend too much time in front of the screens, but in the effect that this has: "each extra hour spent on the screens was associated with 9.3 points less in academic achievement during high school ", says Corder, who explains that this means that students reduce from a remarkable to a sufficient your note.
On the opposite side were those who in sedentary time (ie, sitting) were engaged in activities such as reading or homework and they kept away from these technological devices. In this case the students got high scores on exams, reaching an average of 23.1 points more than the other group.
Importance of the study
Although this study has focused only on a specific area of the United Kingdom, its results are important for young people (and their parents) from all over the world. "Although we only take action at 10 and at 16, this can be a reliable snapshot of the habitual behavior of minors, so we can say that an excess of screen can affect school performance", says the researcher.
With the data in hand, this professor at the University of Cambridge advises parents that limit the time your children spend on these devices. It also encourages the creation of policies and design programs "intendedEducate your time in front of computers, televisions, phones and tablets"This, in the opinion of the researchers," could have important benefits for adolescents when it comes to improving their school grades and also their health. "
Angela R. Bonachera
