Excessive television viewing creates attention problems in adolescents

If your young son or daughter watches quite a bit of television in those younger years, a new study concludes that possible attention problems may develop when he or she reaches adolescence.

Ever since television was invented, the argument of kids watching too much of it has been thrown around. The new study does not completely agree with earlier studies that attempted to make a direct connection between TV watching and attention disorders in kids (i.e., contributing to ADHD, for example).

Specifically, this latest study makes the case for watching more than two hours of television per day -- between the ages of 5 and 11 -- and the possibility for increased attention problems in adolescence. According to one of the study's authors, "We found the amount of television did predict the amount of problems at age 13 and 15."

Is it time to turn off that TV after school?