A balanced lifestyle is the healthiest lifestyle, and spending so much of one's day performing a single activity is numbing for the brain and the body. The American Enterprise, in an opinion piece on the effects of video games states, "Young Americans have an addiction problem, and it isn't drugs: It's video games. These inane mind-vacuums are the opiate of today's youth!" (American Enterprise, 12) This father's plea is a rather effective call to parents of children with such an addiction to video games to intervene in their child's situation. This situation is not universal, however, and with a little parenting, a child's habits can be managed so that they retain an interest in the outdoors and teamwork rather than sinking into the basement each night. This anecdote from the American Enterprise is in no way conclusive evidence of anything. In a letter to the editor in Mayo Clinical Proceedings, doctors state that scientific evidence to the addictive nature of video games is inconclusive.(Mayo...

"A Further Plea for Caution Against Medical Professionals Overstating Video Game Violence Effects." Mayo Clinic Proceedings (2011): 820-23. Print.
Moore, Stephen. "Numbed by Nintendo." The American Enterprise (2005): 12. Print.

"Watch Out For The Health Hazards Of Video Games." Nintendo 3DS Portable Gaming Console. Consumer Reports, 29 Mar. 2011. Web. .