Digital technologies offer numerous resources and possibilities that can make everyday life easier. Programs to study or work, shopping sites and apps to find new relationships: everything in the palm of your hand.
However, what is the limit between the moderate and intelligent use of one that can be harmful to health?
O CNN Vital Signs this week takes a dive into the digital universe with the aim of answering this question. Experts point out that the excessive use of tools can be harmful, especially for children and adolescents.
The rerun of the program presented by cardiologist Roberto Kalil will air this Saturday (18), at 7:15 pm.
Kalil interviews physician Rodrigo Machado, a psychiatrist and specialist in brain damage caused by the excessive use of digital technologies, and psychologist Cristiano Nabuco, coordinator of the Technological Addictions Group at the Institute of Psychiatry at Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo (see the video above ).
“In early childhood, a study shows that, in Brazil, between 4 and 5 years old, 89% of children are excessively exposed to screens”, says Machado. “When we tilt our head forward, the weight that would be supported by five kilos now weighs 27 kilos. When I tilt my head forward, I create pressure on the neck and shoulders equivalent to carrying an eight-year-old child on a horse,” adds Nabuco.
According to the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP), the recommended time of daily use of screens varies according to age, being restricted to use by children under two years of age (see picture below ).
In the episode, physician Evelyn Eisenstein, coordinator of the “Esse mundo digital” network and member of the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics, talks about the impairment of speech and language development in children under 3 years old who have access to digital technologies.
“In recent years, especially during the pandemic, more children have entered the digital world. Up to 98% of teenagers in Brazil access smartphones or notebooks,” she says.
French neuroscientist and researcher specializing in cognitive neuroscience, Michel Desmurget, author of the book “A Fábrica de Cretinos Digitais”, warns about the use of technologies by children and adolescents.
“The child’s brain is made to process human interactions, not to process screens or anything else.” And, based on research, he goes further: “This will be the first generation whose IQ will be lower than the previous generation”, he warns.
Morgana Secco, mother of baby Alice, who became known worldwide for being able to speak difficult words at such a young age, says that her daughter never had contact with computer screens or cell phones, learning only through human interactions.
Anna Lucia Spear King, coordinator of the Delete Detox Digital and Conscious Use of Technologies laboratory at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), explains why many children and teenagers spend so much time playing online.
“The use of games releases dopamine, serotonin, endorphins in the brain, chemical substances that give us a lot of pleasure and the brain learns quickly, which is why people become addicted. It’s along the same lines as alcohol and drugs, which release the same things, the same reward process in the brain,” he says.
Brayan Loss, 30, from Rio Grande do Sul, a professional in the field of information technology, used to spend 18 hours a day online. Isolated, without contact with other people, he developed gastritis because he started taking too much caffeine to endure the marathon. Isolated in a parallel world, he needed to seek expert help.
Students of different ages from a school in São Paulo were invited by the program to participate in a conversation circle about the use of digital devices. All told that they fought hard to get their own cell phone from their parents.
“This self-control depends a lot on the parents and the school, the book gives you a lot of space for fantasy, creativity, reasoning. In the digital tool, things happen at such a speed that you become a slave to it”, says doctor Roberto Lent, emeritus professor at UFRJ and researcher at the D’or Institute of Research and Teaching.
Source: CNN Brasil
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