Abstract
Introduction: Video games (VGs) have become widely spread nowadays occupying most of the leisure time of the children, this may affect their schooling, sleeping, and behavior adversely. Methodology: This cross-sectional prospective study was carried out to assess the prevalence and negative impact of VGs on children and adolescents. A questionnaire was designed and filled by the parents together with their child to assess the rate of VGs playing and whether it has left any negative effects on the child. Results: VGs prevalence among the participants was about 99.3%. VGs Playing was found to predispose to the following negative effects among the studied group: violence and aggressive behavior (25%), excessive eating (37%), behavioral problems as lack of attention (23%) and hyperactivity (19%), decreased school performance (32%), sleep disturbances as staying awake for a late time at night (45%), and semi-addictive effect (5.9%). Conclusion: The vast majority of the participants reported playing VGs. VGs playing was demonstrated to have a lot of negative effects on the studied group such as violence and aggressive behavior, excessive eating, behavioral problems as inattention, decreased school performance, sleep disturbances, and semi-addictive effect.