Brain Drains: 3 Surprising Things that Rob Kid's Brainpower

Your child studies hard, yet seems to always lag a little behind academically, perhaps even socially. Don't chalk it up to it being normal for them until you consider these surprising things that rob kids of brainpower and hinder them from living up to their full learning potential.

Secondhand Cigarette Smoke

Studies have shown that when a child is exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke, their IQ score lowers by up to five points. The greater the exposure to secondhand smoke, the greater the decline in reading and reasoning skills. Even minimal exposure to secondhand smoke has adverse effects on kids brainpower, a drop of just one IQ point impacts a child's ability to learn.

Secondhand cigarette smoke in the home may also cause a child to suffer with frequent bouts of bronchitis, pneumonia, ear aches, colds and respiratory infections. Secondhand smoke is also a leading cause of childhood asthma and the need for tubes to placed in kid's ears to prevent reoccurring ear infections. The negative health impacts of secondhand smoke can cause kids to miss much needed days of school.

Sleep Disorders

Reports have shown that slightly more than 10% of all children have some type of sleep disorder. Interruptions in sleep cause kids to be tired, cranky, groggy and fidgety throughout the day, which impairs their brain function and hinders learning.

The most common childhood sleep disorder is sleep apnea. Enlarged tonsils and adenoids block the child's airway and breathing stops momentarily and repeatedly all night long. Childhood sleep apnea usually peaks at around age five and can deprive a developing brain of much needed oxygen during the critical developmental stage. If you suspect your child has sleep apnea, talk with your pediatrician, this childhood sleep disorder is usually corrected (and effectively so) with the surgical removal of tonsils and adenoids.

Too Much TV

Granted, some TV programs are educational for kids, but too much TV viewing, even of the so-called educational programs, robs kids of brainpower. TV programming forces the viewer's focus to change every few seconds, which is an unnatural act for the brain. The brain is programmed to stay focused on any given task indefinitely, TV programming alters that focus by forcing it to jump around before anything is completed. Short attention spans are often the byproduct of too much TV viewing. Turn off the TV and have the child read a book to increase brainpower. Reading a book forces the child to remain focused on the words in front of him/her while allowing the words to create imagery in the mind.

Source: Protecting Kids from Secondhand Smoke