Boost your baby's brain power: Scientists say wait two years before having your second child

This is carefully-done work but lacks psychometric sophistication. The authors are economists. The full paper is here. The measure of IQ (the Peabody Individual Achievement Test ) that they used is reasonable but note the following detail: "Nearly 80 percent of the children in our sample took the PIAT for the first time between ages 5 and 7". That is far too young for a stable estimate of ability. The small differences observed in the study could easily wash out as the child grows up.

In fact that is known to happen. The older people are when tested, the greater the influence of their genetic makeup will be. Identical twins reared apart are more similar in adulthood than they are in childhood. In other words, a kid born with a good genetic inheritance but a poor early environment will tend to "catch up" in adulthood

I would therefore hypothesize that if Prof. Buckles retested the "children" concerned now that they are grown up, she would find that any differences would be negligible

Forget expensive educational DVDs and private tutors, the secret to smart children could be as simple as giving birth to them two years apart. Researchers who studied thousands of children found a two-year gap to be optimum in boosting brain power.

Any shorter, and the reading and maths skills of the older child dipped. The effect was strongest between the first and second-born, but siblings in bigger families also benefited.

The theory comes from Kasey Buckles, an economist whose own children are, rather fortunately, just over two years apart in age.

She said it is likely that the difference in academic achievement is linked to the time and resources parents can invest in a child before a younger sibling arrives. However, waiting more than two years did not increase the advantage, the Journal of Human Resources will report.

Siblings with a two-year spacing include Albert Einstein and sister Maja, and Lord Attenborough and younger brother David.

Kasey Buckles, who lead the study told the Sunday Times: 'We believe this is the first time anyone has established a casual benefit to increase the spacing between siblings.'

The study also showed that gaps between children in larger families was also beneficial.

Buckles told the newspaper: 'The two year gap is significant because the early years are the most important in a child's development so dividing your time when the child is one is more harmful than dividing it when the child is already at school.'

The effect was more pronounced in families with lower incomes, as those with more money could spend to compromise for lack of time.

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Push to recognise 'pathological internet misuse' as a mental health disorder

This problem seems to be most pronounced in China, where there are "boot camps" to which children are sent to cure their "addiction". But because of the one-child policy, Chinese children are greatly indulged. So what we are seeing is no deficit in the child but a deficit in childrearing. Children who are not given limits from the beginning will tend to behave in self-indulgent ways

DISTRESSED families are flooding psychiatrists with pleas for help for children hooked on the internet. The condition known as "pathological internet misuse" is growing so rapidly among adolescents and young adults that it could soon be formally recognised as a mental health disorder.

International mental health experts are considering including "video game addiction and internet addiction" in the next edition of globally recognised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders "to encourage further study".

One Sydney mother said her 13-year-old son was so addicted to computer games he had attended school only intermittently over the past two years and violently resisted attempts to remove him from the screen. "He starts punching holes through the walls, throwing things around and threatening you ... all this has to do with the most addictive game, World of Warcraft," she said. [And the fact that he has been atrociously brought up -- "spoilt", to use a common term]

Parents have told of children as young as 10 being found asleep at their home computer when they are due to leave for school because they have been up much of the night playing video games such as Minecraft.

Australian mental health specialists believe formal recognition of internet addiction will put pressure on governments to make more treatment options available.

Sydney psychiatrist Philip Tam believes internet addiction should be classified as a disorder. Dr Tam, a leader in the field, said a website would be launched this week to help carers, families and counsellors "address the growing and complex problem of internet addiction".

The Network for Internet Investigation and Research in Australia will be run by specialists with a "common passion in assessing, treating, researching and educating the public and professionals" about internet addictions. " ... such conditions are complex in nature and often overlap with common mental health disorders," he said.

Jocelyn Brewer, a member of Philip Tam's expert group, said girls also could "become obsessed with Facebook". "There's a massive divide (between teachers and parents) in expertise about kids' use of technology," she said.

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