PUNJAB EXPRESS NEWSPAPER 2 4 OCTOBER 2019
HOW SCREEN TIME
AFFECTS CHILDREN
Research has shown spending too
much time looking at screens –
smartphones, tablets, computers and
televisions, for example – can be
damaging to children’s intelligence,
sleep and vision. A 2018 study by the
CHEO Research Institute in Ottawa
found eight to 11-year-olds
performed 5% worse on brain power
tests than their peers if they spent
two hours per day looking at
screens. This may be because looking
at screens isn’t as stimulating as
reading, and could interfere with
sleep. Disturbed sleep was also the
focus of a warning from the UK’s
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child
Health earlier this year, when it
recommended children don’t use
screens before bed. It said high levels
of screen time are linked to a less
healthy diet, a sedentary lifestyle
and poorer mental health.
Screen-time
addiction
‘
—
Cases of mobile phone
addiction among children
who are beginning to
show symptoms of health
conditions are on the rise.
What parents don’t
understand is that
children cannot buy
mobile phones on their
own.Why should parents
give it to them?
’
like Rihaan addicted to electronic
screens. Of these cases, children in the
age group of four to 12 years more often
than not grow up to be obese, diabetic
and/or suffer from sleep disorders, said
doctors.
The World Health Organisation (WHO)
just recently published its ‘Guidelines on
Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour
and Sleep for Children Under Five Years
Of Age.” It says that infants and one-year-
olds should not spend any time at
all looking at electronic screens. Screen-time
for children aged two, three and four
should be limited to just an hour every
day and lesser the better, the report said.
“The benefits of less screen-based seden-tary
behaviour (TV viewing, watching
videos, playing computer games) include
reduced obesity, improved motor and
cognitive development and psychosocial
health,” added the WHO report.
SLEEPLESS IN DELHI
Three -year-old Yuvaan Singh could
never fall asleep till he played games on
his father’s mobile phone. Initially, his
mother thought he was suffering from
insomnia and consulted a paediatrician
at the All India Institute of Medical Sci-ences
(AIIMS). There, Yuvaan was
referred to a child psychologist. “I asked
his parents to keep him away from
phones and keep him busy with books
and toys instead,” said Dr Rachna Sax-ena
of AIIMS.
According to a study conducted by
AIIMS and the Department of Biotech-nology,
Ministry of Science and Technol-ogy,
published in 2018, every third child
among the 7,000 students surveyed in
Delhi’s private schools suffered from obe-sity.
“Cases of mobile phone addiction
among children who are beginning to
show symptoms of health conditions are
on the rise. Many of them are addicted to
games such as PUBG. What parents don’t
understand is that children cannot buy
mobile phones on their own. Why should
parents give it to them? It is high time
this was controlled,” says Dr Saxena of
AIIMS.
INDOOR MALADY
Saloni Singh, 39, mother of a three-year-old
staying at Sukhdev Vihar, has to hide
her phone because every time her son is
around. “At times, it becomes difficult for
me to handle his tantrums,” says Singh, a
private firm employee.
The concern assumes greater signifi-cance
with the summer vacations about
to begin. During the oppressive weather
and with abundant time at their disposal,
most children confined indoors will
invariably be drawn to gadgets. “I get at
least four to seven children every day in
the age group of four to 12 years who are
addicted to electronic screens and are, as
a result, obese, diabetic and have
sleep disorders,” said Dr Aruna
Broota, a child psychologist
based in the Capital.
A 2018 study conducted
by an MNC revealed that
57% of Indian parents sur-veyed
were worried about
the impact of screen time
on their children’s eye-sight
especially since
more than 30% of children
in India spent more than
six hours a day staring at a
screen. Another study of
10,000 urban schoolchildren in
Delhi by AIIMS doctors established
that in 40% cases, myopia progressed as a
result of time spent in front of screens.
PARENTS AT FAULT
According to Dr Broota, the problem
often begins at home. “Why cannot chil-dren
be allowed to play and run around,
even if within the confines of their
homes? Rather than attend to them, the
parents often take the easier option of
HOW TO KILL THE SCREEN
handing them a mobile phone or a
tablet,” she points out.
According to the International Journal
of Preventive Medicine, 95 per cent
of children in India live in homes
with a mobile phone and 73 per
cent of Indian children are
mobile phone users. Of these,
70 per cent fall under the age
group of 7-10 years, while 76
per cent are in the age group
of 11-14 years.
Professor Sanjeev Bagai,
Chairman Nephron Clinics,
explains how children
exposed to mobile phones,
tablets, television screens tend
to turn obese.
“A stationary child playing on tablet
or screen tends to eat more and in 99%
cases they munch fried food which has
high sugar, trans-fats and salt. These
children develop metabolic changes in
their body and usually suffer with low
calcium and vitamin D directly linked to
obesity.
Prolonged exposure to screens creates
hormonal imbalances in the children’s
bodies, further impacting their cognitive
and endocrine development,” Dr Bagai
elaborates.
"The screen-time often coincides with
meals, leading to overeating,” Professor
Sheffali Gulati, pediatrician and chief of
Child Neurology Department at AIIMS,
told Mail Today.
Apart from the hours spent staring at
screens, the average age at which chil-dren
start using screens has fallen over
the past decade from 3-5 years to 12-18
months, suggest a number of reports.
Doctors say studies have proved that
children who engage in physical activi-ties
show better development of the
brain than those who are home-bound
and stationary. “Physical exercise gener-ates
the neurotropic factor biomole-cules
essential for the brain’s growth. It
helps young ones to stay more focused,
develop a strong memory and become
less impulsive,” says Dr Gulati. A few
city parents such as Shreya Gupta have
already started working on reducing
their children’s screen time. “As recom-mended
by his doctor, I take him to a
park every day to reduce his screen time,
and also send him for taekwondo lessons.
When he returns home, he is so tired that
he can hardly think about any gadget,”
she said
��Sit with the
child for 30
seconds, a
minute, or
longer, and
simply watch
whatever she/he
is watching or
doing.
��Try to ask an innocent
question about what is
happening on screen. Most
children love their parent's
attention, and will provide
answers.
��Encourage
children to
indulge in
outdoor fun
activities such as
swimming,
taekwondo,
football,
basketball.
��Once a dialogue is created,
you have created a bridge — a
bridge that will allow your
child to, in his mind and body,
step from the screen back into
the real world, without
hormones in free-fall, and
therefore without crisis.
��No eating while on screen,
children tend to consume
more.
��Carefully time the child’s
exposure to gadgets such as
mobile phones, iPads, tablets
and television screens
A
2018 study
revealed that
57% Indian parents
were worried about
the impact of screen
time on their
children’s
eyes
— DR RACHNA SAXENA, AIIMS
A stationary child
playing on a tablet or a
screen tends to eat more
and in 99% cases they
munch fried food which
has high sugar,trans-fats
and salt.These children
develop metabolic
changes in their body and
usually suffer with low
calcium and vitamin D
that have a direct link
with obesity.
‘
I used to get complaints
from the teachers in his
playschool.The
playschool principal
suggested that I
immediately consult a
doctor because my son
had aggressively
demanded a gadget from
him
’— SHREYA, HOMEMAKER GK-II
‘
’ — SANJEEV BAGAI, NEPHRON CLINICS