Back pain in children due to computer sitting

Children should move more and spend less time in front of the computer

03/20/2015

Back pain is present in all ages. Of the common disease number one, children are already affected, such as the magazine „Geo knowledge health“ reported. According to this, 40 percent of children between the ages of 11 and 14 suffer from the annoying symptoms. Mostly, bad posture and tension caused by long sitting in front of the screen as well as a lack of exercise cause the symptoms.

Prevent back pain with exercise
The posture of children while sitting in front of the computer can permanently damage the spine. Particularly unfavorable is a position in which the children see with head down on keyboard or screen. They play exciting PC games, they often pull up their shoulders due to stress, which can lead to tension. As a result, six percent of six- to eight-year-olds and even 40 percent of eleven to 14-year-olds have back pain. „The fitness of the children has clearly worsened, many suffer from poor posture and back pain, because their torso muscles are too weak, "said the sports scientist Prof. Alexander Woll from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to the magazine He speaks of a „Bewegungsparadoxon ": Although at no time have so many children been members of sports clubs, physical activity at the age of four to 17 decreases by about 40 percent.

Children today are not as strong as they used to be in terms of strength, endurance, flexibility and coordination. „Active physical exertion, such as walking to the day care center or going to school or riding a bike, has been significantly reduced, "Woll continued, advising one hour of physical activity per school day to improve the physical fitness of schoolchildren would also reduce the tendency to aggression in the playground. „Exercise affects cognitive performance and increases the ability to concentrate, "adds the sports scientist.

Most children spend more than an hour in front of the screen every day
As from the report „How healthy is Germany??“ According to the health insurance DKV, most children exceed the recommended maximum duration of media use. According to the study, three quarters of the children watch television for more than an hour a day, play computers or surf the internet. The CEO of DKV, Clemens Muth, reported at the presentation of the report at the end of January in Berlin that 72 percent of children even had their own TV in the nursery and 50 percent Internet access. Children practically grew up sitting down, emulating their parents' unhealthy lifestyle. (Ag)