Games are very important for child development, and this includes a cultural activity such as reading, which not only serves to amuse the little ones in the house, but also enhances their intellectual abilities and emotional well-being. In fact, new research has found that children who start reading for pleasure at an early age (ages two to nine) tend to have higher cognitive performance and better mental health by the time they reach adolescence.
The study has been carried out by researchers from the United Kingdom and China who have analyzed data from more than 10,243 adolescents and young people in the United States and have concluded that the optimal amount of reading was 12 hours a week and that this activity was was associated with better brain structure, which may be a possible explanation for their findings, which have been published in Psychological Medicine.
The human brain develops during childhood and adolescence, two key moments in life to adopt habits that favor cognitive development and promote good brain health. Young children quickly and easily acquire oral language, while reading is a skill that is taught and learned over time and should be encouraged in childhood.
Children who started reading earlier spent less time on screens
The data the researchers analyzed included clinical interviews, cognitive tests, mental and behavioral assessments, and brain scans, and compared young people who began reading for pleasure at a relatively early age (between the ages of two and nine) with those who began to do it later or they didn’t read anything. Many factors that could play a role were taken into account, including the socioeconomic status of the families.
“We found significant evidence that reading improves children’s cognition, mental health, and brain structure, which are cornerstones for future learning and well-being.”
About half (48%) of the participants had little experience reading for pleasure or had not started reading until later in their childhood, while the other half had spent between three and ten years reading for pleasure. The researchers found a strong link between reading for pleasure at an early age and good adolescent performance on cognitive tests that measure factors such as verbal learning, memory and speech development, and academic achievement.
These children also had better mental well-being, according to clinical test results and parent-teacher reports, and showed fewer signs of stress and depression, as well as better attention span and fewer behavioral problems, such as bullying or breaking rules. .
An additional benefit of reading is to reduce the time that minors spend in front of screens, such as watching television or using a smartphone or tablet, since they found that adolescents who had taken a liking to reading when they were little they used screens less both on weekdays and on weekends, and also tended to sleep more.
Analyzing brain scans of the adolescent group, the researchers found that those who had started reading for pleasure at an early age showed moderately larger total brain areas and volumes, including specific brain areas that play a key role in cognitive functions. Other brain regions that were different in the members of this group were those previously shown to be linked to better mental health, behavior and attention.
“Reading is not just a pleasurable experience, it is widely accepted that it inspires thought and creativity, increases empathy and reduces stress. But in addition to this, we found significant evidence that it is linked to important developmental factors in children, improving their cognition, mental health and brain structure, which are cornerstones for future learning and well-being,” said Professor Barbara Sahakian. from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge.
The optimal amount of time spent reading for pleasure in young children was set to be around 12 hours per week, and they found no additional benefits to more time, but even found a gradual decline in cognition, which the researchers attributed to By devoting more time to a sedentary activity like this, less time was spent doing other things that can be cognitively enriching, such as social activities or playing sports.
“We encourage parents to do everything they can to awaken the joy of reading in their children at an early age. If done well, this will not only give them pleasure and enjoyment, but will also help their development and foster long-term reading habits, which can also prove beneficial in adult life,” concludes Professor Jianfeng Feng from the University of Fudan in Shanghai, China, and the University of Warwick, UK.
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