An ongoing U.S. study appears to confirm parents' suspicions that too much screen time can hurt the kids. Preliminary findings show that children who spend more than seven hours in front of a screen each day experience a premature thinning of the cortex that could affect cognitive abilities. Here in Taiwan, doctors are quick to corroborate the study's claims. They say that children who spend too much time in the digital world can develop problems engaging with others in real life.

美國有一份最新研究警告，兒童每天看螢幕超過7個小時，恐怕導致大腦皮質變薄，影響思考、語言等認知能力。國內醫師更說，小朋友長期沉溺虛擬世界，恐怕將來在社交、人際溝通上都有問題。

It turns out that too much gaming isn't just bad for children's eyes. According to a new U.S. study, excessive screen time can also affect brain development.

兒童玩遊戲，緊盯螢幕太久，不只傷眼，美國研究更警告，恐怕影響大腦發育。

Huang Kuo-yang
Child psychiatrist
Playing video games causes the brain's striatum to release large amounts of dopamine. This dopamine release is a mechanism that we call addiction. We see children who nod off during the day, who can't focus their energies and can't pay attention. In the end, we find that they are up all night in bed, playing on their phones.

[[國泰醫院小兒心智科醫師 黃國洋]]
“電玩它會讓我們大腦的紋狀體，大量的分泌多巴胺這東西，分泌了多巴胺以後，它事實上就是一個我們說成癮的機制。白天昏昏欲睡在學校打瞌睡，集中力、注意力不好，其實到後面我們才會發現說，原來他晚上都躲在被窩裡面滑手機。”

The U.S. National Institutes of Health is carrying out a study on 4,500 children aged nine to 10. So far, brain scans have shown that children who use devices for over two hours a day score worse on reasoning and language tests. Kids who use devices upwards of seven hours a day experience structural changes in the brain.

美國國衛院，追蹤9到10歲兒童，長期使用手機，或平板電腦情況，其中4500人每天看螢幕超過兩小時，思考、語言表現等認知能力變差，要是超過7小時，大腦紋路甚至會出現變化。

國內醫師則表示，小朋友沉溺在電玩的虛擬世界，與社交能力的強弱有關聯性。

Huang Kuo-yang
Child psychiatrist
It truly is a virtual environment. When a player experiences a setback in real life, he retreats to the virtual world, which offers him great rewards. Over time, the player becomes unable to function normally in the real world.

[[國泰醫院小兒心智科醫師 黃國洋]]
“那個情境的確是虛擬的，當他在現實上面受挫，他就跑到虛擬的環境裡面，可是虛擬的環境又給了他很多的酬賞，慢慢就回不到正常的真實的世界裡面去。”

Physicians advise parents to limit digital media use to 30 minutes a day for young children.

醫師也奉勸家長，幼童用3C一天最好限制半個小時以內。

Source video: https://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=88B5F57CDECD21979695269A7DEEE252