Teens will pay for their addiction for years to come

‘‘If they start to have problems now, they will have problems when they are teenagers, and they will have lingering, ongoing problems for their entire life. Those in their early 20s are coming in with back problems they have had since they were a teenager.’’

Jennison says problems with inactivity and too much screen time can even be seen in the very young.

A new entrants teacher for 30 years told her she is seeing 5-year-olds who can’t sit with their legs straight out in front of them on the floor at mat time.

Their hamstrings are too tight to do that as a result of too much sitting.

‘‘They are sitting instead of running and playing. That tips their pelvis, their lower spine, and throws their head forward.

‘‘It locks up the joints, locks up the upper back, pushes the head forward, keeps it tight and tender and if you keep it for long enough, it shortens the muscles in the front and you can’t stand up straight.’’

Willis St Physio clinical governance manager Grant Plumbley says his Wellington inner city clinic doesn’t see many children, but it is seeing 20-year-olds with neck and shoulder pain from years of bad screen posture and not moving around enough.

‘‘My concern is kids are now starting 10 years earlier than the people I see in their 20s who were getting pain five or six years after having electronic devices.

‘‘Kids are now starting at age 7, 8 and 9. What is going to happen to them?’’

He compares today’s uninformed screen use to the early days of smoking.

‘‘We used to think smoking was good for you. We didn’t worry about it. But 15 and 20 years later...’’

He is the health and safety member on his own children’s school board and has talked to teachers about the importance of children not trapping themselves in a bad posture for long periods.

‘‘I see kids lying on the floor using their device, on their stomach, I see them cross-legged on the floor, hunched over with the device on their laps..’’

When he visits the workplace of someone in pain, one of the first steps is get rid of laptops and use a desktop screen so a better work position can be created.

And yet schools have been flooded with laptops.

Plumbley says new academic research on the link between musculo-skeletal pain and devices has appeared in the last year or two.

‘‘We do need to take it seriously. We can’t get rid of the electronic era, it is going to be with us. And the devices are going to get smaller and more portable.’’