Can Too Much Television Cause AD/HD?

Research suggests that too much TV can increase a child's risk of showing AD/HD symptoms later in life.

New research published in the April issue of Pediatrics suggests that each hour of television a toddler watches per day increases his risk of showing AD/HD symptoms later by 10%. The study, from Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, documented the viewing habits of children between the ages of one and three, then checked them for attention problems when they reached age seven. Researchers did not study the content of the television programs being watched.

"We know from national estimates that children between ages 1 and 3 watch an average of two to three hours of TV a day," said Dimitri Christakis, M.D., the study's lead researcher. "There is a tremendous and growing reliance on TV for a variety of reasons. However, parents should be advised to limit their young child's television viewing."

Early reaction to these findings among the research community has been mixed, with some experts calling for further studies to establish concrete cause and effect in TV's impact on AD/HD.