A comprehensive study of 4,500 children conducted by the National Institutes of Health in 2018 shows that children who spent more than seven hours a day staring at screens showed evidence of premature thinning of their brain's cortex the outer layer that processes sensory information. "We don't know if it (1) (cause) by the screen time. We don't know yet if it's a bad thing. It won't be until we follow them over time (2) we will see if there are outcomes that are associated with the differences that we're seeing in this single snapshot," Dr. Gaya Dowling. "What we can say is that this is(3) the brains look like of kids who spend a lot of time on screens. And it's not just one pattern."
The problem isn't just screens (4) , but also the way screens tempt kids (and adults) away from something far more important: physical activity. More than 23 percent of adults and 80 percent of adolescents don't get enough physical activity, and according to a 2019 report from the World Health Organization (WHO), these patterns of activity and rest arise (5) habits we develop early in life. "What we really need to do is (6) (bring) back play for children," says Dr. Juana Willumsen, a WHO specialist in childhood obesity and physical activity, in a statement about new WHO guidelines issued in April 2019. "This is about making the shift from sedentary time to playtime, while (7) (protect) sleep." Of course, children aren't completely to blame for their screen addiction.
Sometimes, the parents (8) complain about the role of screens in family life are just as guilty of spending too much time in front of one. A 2016 study (9) (conduct) by Common Sense Media found that parents spend up to nine hours a day in front of screens, mostly not for work﹣related reasons. While 78 percent of parents said they believed they were good screen time role models, the study found a disconnect between their behavior and their perception of their behavior. Parents need to limit screen time for themselves and especially for their kids(10) it means playing the bad guy. Our mental and physical health depends on it.