Abstract:

The paper presents the views of eminent authors in the field of cognitive development, psychology, education, ICT and medical sciences describing the connection between movement and development of cognitive abilities (both in children and adults). There is a correlation between motor, cognitive and emotional development. This correlation decreases with age, and therefore it is much easier for one domain of development to be affected through other two. The developmental domains a child goes through are not independent of one another and so the progress in one domain affects the progress in other domains, which is especially typical for the motor development in early childhood. On the other hand, use of modern technology devices has been linked to sleep deprivation, irregular sleep patterns, poor sleep quality, and daytime tiredness. Sleep length in children is positively correlated with the hippocampal gray matter volume. TV exposure in early period of development has been linked to attention disorders of school-aged children. The paper is divided in two parts, theoretical and empirical. Starting from the theories mentioned in the paper a research has been done. The research is analyzing the amount of time that children pass in front of singular media, such as smartphones and TV and how much time they pass outdoor. The research has analyzed 963 children between 9 and 10 years old in Croatia, Italy and Serbia. The results of the study shown that children are living a sedentary life and gives us the estimated numbers of how many of them are facing the risk of developmental difficulties such as speech disorders, dyslexia, dysgraphia, orthopaedic disorders, disorders regarding attention deficit, behaviour, emotional, and impulse control etc.

Keywords:

Children, education, ICT, free time, outdoor activities, neurology.