title: Impact of information and communication technology on child health.
abstract: This article provides a general framework for understanding the use of information and communication technology in education and discusses the impact of computer usage on students' health and development. Potential beneficial and harmful effects of computer use by children are discussed. Early epidemiological and laboratory studies have indicated that children are at least of similar risk of developing musculoskeletal and vision problems as adults, and musculoskeletal and visual health problems developed in childhood are likely to persist into adulthood. This article, therefore, aims to provide a reflection on the deficits of existing policy and recommendations for child-specific guidelines in computer use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Eugenia Hc
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Christopher Wk
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8010-7232
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D000067576:Child Health; D003142:Communication; D003201:Computers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics
keywords: children; computers; health-related problems; information and communication technology