Read More, Play More: Simple Steps to Success for Today's Children

For more and more children, free time is less about hopping on a bicycle and roaming the neighborhood or donning an eye patch and playing pirates of the Caribbean. Nowadays most kids can be found sitting in front of a television or computer screen. The ramifications for such behavior are great. A report published in April in JAMA Pediatrics revealed that childhood obesity is on the rise. And research is finding that it's more than our children's physical well-being that suffers; their minds are at risk, too.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children spend an average of seven hours a day with televisions, computers, cellphones and other electronic devices, which can lead to such problems as sleep disorders, difficulties in school and obesity. The AAP advises parents to limit screen time to one to two hours of high-quality content a day, and for children under 2, there should be no screen time at all.

Now researchers have found that background television in a room where a child is present -- even when he or she is involved in an activity completely unrelated to the television -- can be detrimental as well. "Results indicate that increasing exposure to background TV is associated with poorer executive function," says Deborah Linebarger, associate professor of education at the University of Iowa and lead author of the study published in the July-August issue of the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.

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Executive function is the command and control center of the brain, Linebarger says, and it involves such cognitive skills as self-regulation, organization and long-term planning. "Well-developed [executive function] skills are important for making plans, keeping track of time, reflecting on our work, finishing work on time, asking for help, waiting to speak until called on, inhibiting impulsive behavior, not interrupting or concentrating," she says.

In a previous study, Linebarger and her colleagues discovered that children between ages 8 months and 8 years were exposed to about four hours of background television a day. "Other research indicates that exposure to background TV is associated with fewer episodes of play when the TV is on, shorter play episodes when they do occur and less-focused attention while playing -- focused attention is higher-quality play," Linebarger says. "[There are also] fewer and lower-quality parent-child interactions."

Play, particularly free play in less-structured activities, can affect the development of executive function in a child's brain. Research shows that the act of playing can change the connections of neurons in the prefrontal cortex. Children at play learn decision-making, problem-solving and social skills, all essential traits for success in school and life in general.

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What can parents do to protect their children against the effects of background television? Linebarger offers several suggestions: Set up good viewing habits with your children. Select a high-quality television show to view for a purpose, and when the program is over, turn the television off. Try to avoid watching adult-oriented television when children are in the room. And if no one is watching, simply turn the television off.

When the television is off, then what? Talk to your kids, and the sooner the better. Researchers from Stanford University discovered that infants who are directly spoken to -- rather than simply overhearing speech -- are more efficient in processing language and learn new words more quickly.

Differences in language skills can be detected as early as 18 months, and by the age of 24 months, children whose parents spoke to them often surpassed their less-spoken-to peers by up to six months. This advantage can ensure later success in school. "You need to start talking to them from day one," Anne Fernald, lead researcher and a psychology professor at Stanford University, said at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting in February. The American Academy of Pediatrics even began promoting a similar message, announcing a new policy -- published in the August issue of Pediatrics -- advising parents to read to their children beginning at birth.

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So how important is reading in a child's life? Research published in July in Child Development found a correlation between early reading skills and higher intelligence. Nearly 2,000 twins were tested for reading and intelligence at various times between ages 7 and 16. Those who possessed stronger reading skills at age 7 later demonstrated greater intellectual abilities, leading researchers to conclude that early reading skills could affect intellectual development.

It would seem that the steps to success for kids include these: Turn off the television. Read to your children, and read to them earlier. And last but not least -- and this is something that all kids would be happy to hear -- more playtime is good.