First-year elementary-school students in Taiwan spend up to three hours per day using mobile electronics, and less than five hours per week exercising, a National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) study found.
Students spend an average of one hour and 25 minutes per day using smartphones and tablets on weekdays, and three hours and six minutes on weekends and holidays, the university said yesterday.
The study also found that in some households where parents did not set limits on the use of electronics, children spent nearly four hours per day over weekends and holidays using the devices, it said.
Meanwhile, the students on average spend only four hours and 50 minutes per week exercising, the university said, adding that first-year elementary-school students in the US spend at least seven hours per week exercising.
The study, which aimed to better understand developmental issues in children, was initiated by Chang Chien-ju (張鑑如), a professor in the university’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies.
Researchers analyzed information collected nationwide between March 2016 and this month on 6,590 children aged three months at the start of the study, and 2,164 children aged three years at the start of the study.
It found that more than half of elementary-school students attend cram schools and other programs, and spend only two to three hours at home before bed time.
Of that time, half is on average spent using mobile electronics, Chang said, adding that only 15 percent were prohibited from watching TV or using electronics after returning home, she said.
The students typically use mobile devices to watch cartoons, rather than to play video games as older students do, she said.
“Ninety-seven percent of parents who allow electronics have rules about how long they can be used, and that their children, for example, must complete their homework before using them,” she said.
The WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children’s screen time not exceed one hour and 30 minutes per day, she said.
Exercise is also important for a child’s development, Chang said, adding that Taiwanese children generally do not engage in exercise outside of physical education classes they attend weekly at school.
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS