THE IMPACT OF EXCESS SCREEN TIME ON THE HUMAN BODY IN THE PANDEMIC

 

Introduction
The previous year 2020, was a chaotic year that affected the globe. The fast increasing rate of the widespread of the deadly infectious disease, COVID-19 led to a pandemic. It resulted in a global shutdown that forced people to cut off physical communication with others and cancel their plans. Though, unlike previous pandemics, modern technologies provided access for people to communicate safely. People found comfort in their phones and computers. As the shutdown persisted and the sense of isolation increased, people became highly dependent on their devices to cope in this difficult time. The excess use of devices in the pandemic has negatively affected our physical and mental health.

There are multiple studies on the excessive use of devices that affect our health and the pandemics’ effects on different age groups. But little research has been done to show the connection between both cases on human development. I propose further research done about the pandemic linked to the prolonged usage of devices affecting our health. It could advance modern science by figuring out the vulnerability of the human mind during isolation and the treatments.

 

Background
Technological devices such as smartphones are used for creating and transmitting information in the form of electronic data. In the age we currently live in, the use of such devices has skyrocketed. Society has gotten dependent on them, making them embedded in our day-to-day activities. We use them for our jobs, recreational use (social media) to connect on a global scale,
and even for school. Despite all the benefits we get from it, recent studies have shown that the overuse of our devices is affecting our minds and body. The effects are now creating problems preventing us from functioning well in doing our usual tasks and routine. Individuals who had less control over their use of their phones had poor sleeping quality, lower academic grades, and overall bad ratings of well-being (Wacks et al., 2021). Excess use of smartphones has caused social deficit among adolescents causing mental health issues such as anxiety, behavioral addictions, and suicide attempts (Kim et al., 2019). The cases prevail heavily among youth who frequent social media causing mental distress and poor physical health.

Isolation in the pandemic from the outside world has also taken a toll on human health. Lockdown has forced people to be stationary and into a sedentary lifestyle for an extensive period. Lack of physical inactivity has harmful health consequences in causing diseases. Among children, studies show that their physical activities decreased a lot. They engaged more in sedentary behavior during the early COVID-19. Before the pandemic, kids (5-13) were highly active in sports, running, and walking (Dunton et al., 2020). It is very harmful to children in the developing stages to regress and can increase the risk of health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and more. The lockdown affected the mental health of people preventing them from doing activities pertaining to work and personal life. College students indicated that the covid-19 increased their stress and anxiety during lockdown negatively affected their education. Lack of concentration, irregular sleep patterns, increased workload, depressive thoughts, suicide thoughts, irregular eating patterns are a few things that affected people over the lockdown (Son et al., 2020). The fear of the effects of the pandemic affecting oneself and loved ones creates frustration, boredom, and other psychological impacts.

 

Methods

Smith, L., Jacob, L., Trott, M., Yakkundi, A., Butler, L., Barnett, Y., Armstrong, N. C., McDermott, D., Schuch, F., Meyer, J., López-Bueno, R., Sánchez, G. F., Bradley, D., & Tully, M. A. (2020). The association between Screen Time and mental health during COVID-19: A Cross Sectional Study. Psychiatry Research, 292, 113333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113333

This research study based in the UK supports my hypothesis to investigate the association
between screen time and mental health during UK COVID-19 social distancing measures.
In the study with nine hundred and thirty-two adults, findings indicated that sitting time
increased during self-isolation and physical activity of any sort decreased. Time spent idle
was higher in high-screen time compared to low-screen time.

 

Wagner, B. E., Folk, A. L., Hahn, S. L., Barr-Anderson, D. J., Larson, N., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2021). Recreational screen time behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.: A mixed-methods study among a diverse population-based sample of emerging adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9), 4613. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094613

This study goes into detail about the changes in recreational screen time from
pre-pandemic (2018) and in-pandemic(2020) among various adults. Seven hundred and
sixteen participants from several ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds reported
their recreational screen time weekly in 2018 and 2020. They also indicated how
COVID-19 related events had influenced their screen time. Three hundred and forty-eight
recorded that their screen time increased in 2020. Two hundred and twenty-nine stated a
decrease, and the rest said there was no difference. The findings propose that screen time
and mental health may be linked during the pandemic as it may worsen the mental health
for some or better for others.

 

Pandya, A., & Lodha, P. (2021). Social connectedness, excessive screen time during COVID-19 and mental health: A review of current evidence. Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2021.684137

This source presents more information about the present study trials to learn the virtual
social connectedness, excessive use of digital technology, its outcomes, and suggest
procedures to maintain healthy use of digital technology. The countries included in the
studies are the United States, Switzerland, India, Canada, Australia, China, Singapore, and
others. Results show that screen time has increased drastically during COVID-19. The
suggestions for negative impacts on human health (physical and mental) explain a strict
need for implanting healthy digital habits, especially knowing that digital technology is
here to stay and grow with time.

 

Kovacs, V. A., Starc, G., Brandes, M., Kaj, M., Blagus, R., Leskošek, B., Suesse, T., Dinya, E., Guinhouya, B. C., Zito, V., Rocha, P. M., Gonzalez, B. P., Kontsevaya, A., Brzezinski, M., Bidiugan, R., Kiraly, A., Csányi, T., & Okely, A. D. (2021). Physical activity, screen time and the COVID-19 school closures in Europe – an observational study in 10 countries. European Journal of Sport Science, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2021.1897166

This source supports my hypothesis and examines the prevalence and connections between
physical activity and screen time from a large sample of European (10 countries) children
during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform policies and implement sufficient relief
proposals. The current findings complement the increasing data on the prevalence of
insufficient physical activity and unhealthy screen time in children in reaction to the
COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Outcome

These sources documented in my research showed that prolonged screen time during the pandemic period truly has a negative impact on our physical and mental health. The sedentary lifestyle picked up by the world during isolation contributed to an increase in poor mental illnesses such as stress and anxiety. It also led to depressive and suicidal thoughts. The poor physical state of people also increased, which makes many prone to risky diseases that can be long-term and raise mortality rates. There is an ongoing pandemic in the one we are currently processing. Parents, teachers, and authorities should take the utmost precaution with the issue at hand. Building healthy digital habits in this age where technology dominates is the best preventive measure for a thriving society.