Video game use in the news
Rachel
According to this article, video games are to blame for an increase in rickets in children:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100122/tc_pcworld/videogamestoblameforriseinrickets_1
But according to this one, it will increase the metal acuity of elderly people:
http://bit.ly/632Q7S
Interesting.
My favorite quote from the first article is this:
I find it fascinating how video games can be both terrible for health and great for health. Articles like these are similar to those vilifying TV - they take some limited information from a study and extrapolate conclusions that don't necessarily follow. Or they conflate correlation and causation. It's not at all true that video games cause rickets. Video games are but one of thousands of indoor activities that do not provide for natural sunlight exposure, a deficiency of which causes rickets. An article could just as well be written that says school causes rickets.
I just thought I'd chime in from lurkdom to point out that the articles, documentaries, media reports, etc. that constantly tell us we're going to die or damage our kids if we do XYZ or don't do XYZ... well, it's not that simple and not black and white. Even water can kill you if you drink too much at once.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100122/tc_pcworld/videogamestoblameforriseinrickets_1
But according to this one, it will increase the metal acuity of elderly people:
http://bit.ly/632Q7S
Interesting.
My favorite quote from the first article is this:
>>>So kids in school during the weekdays don't get much of a window after classes let out to soak up sun rays. What's more, this team of British researchers alleges, that's in part the fault of video games, which increasingly occupy what little time's left (and presumably more of what's available on weekends).>>>Hmm, perhaps the problem isn't the video games then, but the schools keeping kids indoors all day long?
I find it fascinating how video games can be both terrible for health and great for health. Articles like these are similar to those vilifying TV - they take some limited information from a study and extrapolate conclusions that don't necessarily follow. Or they conflate correlation and causation. It's not at all true that video games cause rickets. Video games are but one of thousands of indoor activities that do not provide for natural sunlight exposure, a deficiency of which causes rickets. An article could just as well be written that says school causes rickets.
I just thought I'd chime in from lurkdom to point out that the articles, documentaries, media reports, etc. that constantly tell us we're going to die or damage our kids if we do XYZ or don't do XYZ... well, it's not that simple and not black and white. Even water can kill you if you drink too much at once.
Sandra Dodd
-=-It's not at all true that video games cause rickets. Video games
are but one of thousands of indoor activities that do not provide for
natural sunlight exposure, a deficiency of which causes rickets. An
article could just as well be written that says school causes rickets.=-
Amen. <g>
And not only rickets, but low self esteem, often physical harm, and
sometimes suicide. And shame; much shame.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
are but one of thousands of indoor activities that do not provide for
natural sunlight exposure, a deficiency of which causes rickets. An
article could just as well be written that says school causes rickets.=-
Amen. <g>
And not only rickets, but low self esteem, often physical harm, and
sometimes suicide. And shame; much shame.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kristi
I didn't read the articles yet, but my very first thought was that rickets is caused by a deficiency of Vitamin D, and the best way to obtain that is from the sun--a mere 10 minutes a day makes a difference!
My husband sustained a traumatic head injury when our first daughter was 10 weeks old...the very first thing the physical therapist told me when we brought him home was to encourage him to play as many hours of video games as he was willing, as they are very useful in helping bring back the neural stimulus needed to help his hand-eye coordination, and they also help with cognitive functioning.
I've never questioned their value since.
Kristi Beguin
My husband sustained a traumatic head injury when our first daughter was 10 weeks old...the very first thing the physical therapist told me when we brought him home was to encourage him to play as many hours of video games as he was willing, as they are very useful in helping bring back the neural stimulus needed to help his hand-eye coordination, and they also help with cognitive functioning.
I've never questioned their value since.
Kristi Beguin
memismommy
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
One doesn't actually need to go outside to be exposed to natural sunlight.
Peace,
Shan
An assumption
>My kids play their Gamecube in a east-facing room of our home, which is on a rise, If there is morning in early afternoon sun, that room is flooded with it. Jeremiah usually sleeps there, too.
> -=-It's not at all true that video games cause rickets. Video games
> are but one of thousands of indoor activities that do not provide for
> natural sunlight exposure, a deficiency of which causes rickets. An
> article could just as well be written that says school causes rickets.=-
>
> Amen. <g>
>
> And not only rickets, but low self esteem, often physical harm, and
> sometimes suicide. And shame; much shame.
>
One doesn't actually need to go outside to be exposed to natural sunlight.
Peace,
Shan
An assumption
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>