More Japanese preschoolers playing computer games

Gadget News - Wednesday December 12, 2007

More Japanese preschoolers playing computer games

Tokyo (dpa) - The number of Japanese preschoolers who regularly play computer games has nearly doubled in the past year, according to a Health Ministry survey, cited by Japan's Kyodo news agency.

The respondents were parents of 38,535 children born in 2001.

Fifty-one per cent of the children regularly play computer games, the survey found. The figure was 28 per cent in a similar survey conducted a year ago.

The influence of friends in nursery school was one of the reasons for the increase, the Health Ministry said.

The survey also found that children who watch a lot of television tend to play more computer games, and that more of the mothers have begun to work as their children grow.

Bangkok Post