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Doctor, young man shed light on video game addiction
By Staff Writer
 In a recent article published by NBC Miami, one South Florida doctor describes how video games may become addicting to young children. The news provider cited recent research from investigators at Iowa State University, which showed that one out of every 10 video game players becomes addicted to the interactive entertainment. The Florida medical expert told the news source that kids sometimes use the games as an escape from aspects of their lives that they are not proud of. For example, some children do not participate in extracurricular activities or lack peer friendships. Anthony Wood, a 20-year-old college student, told the news provider that he sometimes used to engage in video gaming for up to two days straight with no sleep. "Before I would be running outside or reading a book and this was something new. As I got older, I got into different video games. Really, what drew me in was the challenge, it's never boring," he explained to NBC. According to Online Gamers Anonymous, 72 percent of Americans between the ages of 6 and 44 play video games and 4 percent spend more than 50 hours gaming each week. Kids who show signs of video game addiction may benefit from attending boarding schools for troubled youth.
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