Video Games' Addictive Nature Unclear: AMA

(Page 3)

Wasserman also questioned the sedentary aspects of hours of video game use. "I can't tell you if this is associated with our current epidemic of child obesity," he said, "but too much time in front of a video tube -- and much of that time spent watching violent interactions -- can't be good for our kids."

That's a sentiment shared by a majority of the American public, according to a survey of more than 1,000 parents of children aged 2 to 17 that was released last week by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. According to the Associated Press, two-thirds of parents responding to the survey said they were "very concerned" about the amount of sex and violence their children are exposed to in various media.

The report's authors had also urged that the AMA pressure the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to include "Internet/video game addiction" in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the standard diagnostic text used by psychiatrists worldwide.

That won't happen, based on Wednesday's vote, although the APA's new recommendations will be passed on to the psychiatric group.

Dr. James Scully, medical director at the APA, had said before the vote that any decision on the matter is a long way offr.

Right now, "we don't agree or disagree" with the notion that video game overuse might be an addiction, he said. "As a diagnostic issue, it is going to be several years before we make a determination of that. It's clearly something that we want to consider."

In the meantime, he said, it's up to parents to limit their child's exposure to video games, especially the more violent ones.

Both the AMA and the APA support current recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics that limit children's exposure to all "screen time" -- TV, computers and video games -- to a total of two hours a day.

Wasserman believes this simple rule can minimize media's potentially harmful effects. Media, in itself, isn't always bad, he said, but "everything needs to be done in moderation."