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Note at about 48:06, why the lighting used in a classroom is so important.

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Kindergarten children were equipped with bracelets that measure light exposure. A study found a link between lots of daylight and low hyperactivity in the children.

Anne Lise Stranden

Wednesday 21. april 2021

Children who spent a lot of time outdoors during the day displayed fewer symptoms of hyperactivity.

A new study of kindergarten children show this to be a strong link.

“The difference between the brightness of indoor and outdoor light is considerable,” says Vidar Sandsaunet Ulset, who is a psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at Promenta Research Centre at the University of Oslo. He is one of the researchers behind the study.

The study is a small part of a larger research study of 2000 children.

Previously, researchers have found a connection between the amount of time that children in kindergarten spend outdoors and higher levels of concentration and less hyperactivity in school.

Extract

Huge difference between indoor and outdoor light intensity

Ulset says it’s conceivable that our body is adapted to outdoor lighting.

“I think there’s a mismatch between the environment we’re created to be in and the environment we mostly spend time in,” Ulset says. He points out that people have been indoors during the day for only a small fragment of human history.

“There’s a huge difference between indoor and outdoor light intensity,” he says.

Outdoors on a sunny day, the illuminance can be 100 000 lux, whereas the light in the living room might be only 500 lux, according to Ulset.

“We don’t usually notice the difference, because our eyes adapt to new light levels quickly,” Ulset says.

More recent research now indicates that it may be wise for kindergarten children to spend a lot of time outside, he says.

Light might act like ADHD medication

Ulset is now wondering if outdoor daylight affects the brain somewhat in the same way as ADHD medication does.

“Several studies on both adults and children show that light triggers hormones in the brain that improve attention,” he says.

Studies show that light can trigger norepinephrine which, like medications prescribed for ADHD, can improve attention and concentration.

Ulset says he is eager to do more research on the topic of outdoor time and hyperactivity in children.

Reference:

V. Ulset et al: Environmental Light Exposure, Rest-Activity Rhythms, and Symptoms of Inattention and Hyperactivity: An Observational Study of Australian Preschoolers. Summary. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21 February 2021.

Read the full article at https://sciencenorway.no/children-childrens-health-kindergarten/children-who-spent-a-lot-of-time-in-daylight-were-calmer/1847926

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by British Medical Journal

Preschoolers’ extensive use of electronic media, including game consoles, mobile phones, and tablets, is linked to a heightened risk of emotional and behavioral problems by the age of 5, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

This behavior is associated with hyperactivity, short attention span, poor concentration and peer relationship issues, among other things, the findings suggest.

Patterns of children‘s electronic media use are changing rapidly, say the researchers. Preschoolers’ use of mobile phones and tablets tripled between 2013 and 2017, with recent studies indicating that many 4-year-olds now play games, use apps, or watch videos on them every day.

Concerns have been raised that young children’s extensive use of electronic media may impede healthy development, affecting language and social skills, as well as potentially fostering addictive behavior.

The researchers therefore wanted to find out if extensive electronic media use among young children might affect their psychological health and wellbeing by the time they reach the age of 5, and if different types of activity might be influential.

Extract

“Our results show that 5-year-old children spend considerably more time on e-media than is recommended by professionals. Our results further indicate that high levels of e-media use, especially program viewing, is associated with problems with psychosocial outcomes, while use of electronic games was only associated with hyperactivity in the crude models.”

They emphasize: “Although children’s e-media use patterns might not seem problematic when considering use on a daily level, they do have risks in the long term.”

Read more at https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-preschoolers-extensive-electronic-media-linked.html

More information: High-­dose electronic media use in five-year-olds and its association with their psychosocial symptoms: a cohort study, DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040848

Journal information: BMJ Open

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