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PESHAWAR, Jul 10 (APP):Although the digital revolution and exponential growth in use of telecommunication technology has made life easy but it also brought about numerous health hazards, particularly for children and teenagers in developing countries including Pakistan.
The medical experts said that increased dependency on cellular phones and its usage by social media consumers were making negative effects on children besides exposes them to mental and psychological disorders.
In many countries, over half of the population uses mobile phones and according to available data, the number of internet users have increased to over 5.03 billion equivalent to 63.1 percent of the total world’s population.
At the same time, the health problems related to excessive use of mobile phones have also aggravated, especially for the children and teenagers who were exposed to psychological, medical and eyesight issues.
Fazl Rabbani, Head of Psychiatry Department, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar told APP that an excessive use of mobile phones affect the bond of love and affections between the children and parents besides creating emotional and cognitive problems.
“The response of children aged below five years using mobile and smart phones for cartoons and other games towards mothers and fathers was found less attentive than those kids playing games in the open and ultimately the former become victims of anxiety, frustration, stress and depression besides sleep disturbance,” Dr Fazal said.
He said the mobile phones have increased psychological problems and crankiness in children, adding such cases exist more among children aged three to five years as well as students attempting board or O/A level exams.
He highlighted the alarming increase in psychological problems and crankiness among children and attributes this trend to the rising prevalence of mobile phone usage among young children.
The reduced physical activity, early enrollment in schools, and excessive screen time on mobile phones are major contributors to the observed behavioural changes in children. When children start troubling, parents hand over mobile phones to them instead of finding a better solution, adding that children aged three to five years are more likely to suffer from psychological problems. The habit of eating outside rather than consuming home-cooked meals has also affected children’s health and well-being. Screen time has made children more susceptible to anxiety and psychological problems.
To address these issues, he advised parents to encourage their children to spend time with elders and engaging in physical activities.
He stressed the importance of avoiding excessive pressure on children related to academic performance and called for the establishment of parks and playgrounds in schools and housing societies. The parents were urged to prioritize children’s well-being by promoting healthier lifestyles, limiting screen time, and fostering opportunities for physical activity and social interaction. By addressing these factors, he believed that the prevalence of psychological problems in children can be mitigated, leading to happier and healthier childhoods.
With the rising trend of digital adaptation and use of social media, the number of internet users continued to increase at an annual rate of about four percent and the current trends indicate that two-thirds of the world’s population would be online by December this year.
Dr Malik Riaz, senior children specialist of Govt hospital Pabbi Nowshera said the unchecked use of mobile phones by children and teenagers leads to poor performance in education and co-curricular activities of students besides taking them to isolation.
He said most patients bring their children to doctors with complaints of multiple health issues including anxiety, depression, aggressive behavior, pain in backbone, wrists and hand mainly due to excessive use of smartphone and tablets.
“The children also become victims of malnourishment, stunted growth and low immunity thus making such kids vulnerable to fatal diseases like pneumonia, anxiety and mental disorders,” he added.
He said the physicians regularly counsel patients about medical risks associated with heart disease, stroke, diabetes and smoking but nobody talks about the adverse effects of smart phones at educational and health institutes and during driving.
He said that people of all age groups, especially children and teenagers were most vulnerable to ocular diseases including near slightness (myopia), asthenopia, and ocular surface ailments due to excessive use of smart phones and related devices.
“The use of smart phones with full brightness causes blurredness and poor eyesight,” he said, adding time restrictions on smart phones and intermittent blinking of eyes during continuous use of digital devices could prevent ocular and visual abnormalities.
Dr Riaz said the mobile phones also carry germs because these are not washable and rapid exchange of devices could transmit multiple infectious diseases including corona virus.
He said that since the use of mobile phones and other digital devices started in recent decades and a lot of research is required to ascertain whether its radiation could cause brains and eye tumors.
According to available data, 92.1 percent of internet users in the world use a mobile phone to go online and mobile phones now account for more than 55 percent of our online time and 60 percent of the world’s web traffic.
As a result of the availability of smart phones, the number of social media’s users had crossed 4.70 billion in July 2022 in world, indicating that almost 94 percent of internet users were now using social media every month.
Similarly, over 227 million new users had joined social media in the last 12 months with more than 620,000 new users every day and seven new users every single second across the globe.
“My life got better when I left using my smartphone and started giving time to my family,” said Ehtisham Khan, a student of BS Urdu literature while talking to the news agency.
He said that smart phones had consumed a lot of his precious time that he should have spent with his family and friends and urged people to give time to their families, especially children and convince them to read books rather than wasting time on social media.