Healthy Use of internet and Electronic Screen Products?
General Situation of Use of Internet & Electronic Screen Products among Hong Kong Students and the World Health Organization’s Suggestion on ‘Gaming Disorder’
Department of Health
8 February 2018
Main Points of this Presentation:
- Surveys on “The Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products” in 2014 & 2017
- Health Assessment Questionnaires (HAQ) Analysis
- Proposed inclusion of “Gaming Disorder” in “International Classification of Diseases (ICD)”
- Healthy Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products Webpage
- Conclusion
Surveys on “The Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products”
Number of Respondents| Year | 2014 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| Primary school students | 474 | 482 |
| Parents of primary school students | 79 | 80 |
| Secondary school students | 816 | 684 |
| Parents of secondary school students | 646 | 641 |
| Total | 2,015 | 1,887 |
Surveys on “The Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products”(Students)
| Adverse effects of Internet and electronic screen products use | Primary School Students | Secondary School Students | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2017 | Changes +/- | 2014 | 2017 | Changes +/- | |
| Quarrel with parents | 41.6% | 53.1% | +11.5% | 62.7% | 69.3% | +6.6% |
| Give up outdoor activities | 27.8% | 32.6% | +4.8% | 41.7% | 41.4% | -0.3% |
| Deprive sleep time | 25.5% | 35.7% | +10.2% | 62.7% | 67.0% | +4.3% |
| Affect academic performance & results | 32.9% | 39.0% | +6.1% | 51.6% | 43.3% | -8.3% |
| Deceive parents, friends & teachers on time online | 11.0% | 16.5% | +5.2% | 23.8% | 24.7% | +0.9% |
| Primary School Students | Secondary School Students | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2017 | Changes +/- | 2014 | 2017 | Changes +/- | |
| Spent more than 3 hours a day in average on Internet | 3.2% | 13.1% | +9.9% | 30.3% | 33.9% | +3.6% |
| Suspected oneself being addicted to Internet | 7.6% | 12.4% | +4.8% | 19.7% | 19.0% | -0.7% |
| Among those suspected themselves having addiction to Internet who had sought help | 16.7% | 10% | -6.7% | 8.1% | 7.7% | -0.4% |
Surveys on “The Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products”(Parents)
| Parents of Primary School Students | Parents of Secondary School Students | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2017 | Changes +/- | 2014 | 2017 | Changes +/- | |
| Parents have quarrelled with their children due to use of Internet or electronic screen products | 44.3% | 77.5% | +33.2% | 66.7% | 71.3 | +4.6% |
| Parents think their children have spent excessive amount of time on Internet and affecting their daily living | 26.6% | 62.5% | +35.9 | 47.4% | 53.7% | +6.3% |
| Parents think that they do not have enough information to empower children to avoid addiction to Internet | 26.6% | 28.8 | +2.2% | 33.6% | 30.0% | -3.6% |
| Parents are not confident to empower their children to avoid addiction to Internet | 17.7% | 16.3% | -1.4% | 23.2% | 22.5% | -0.7% |
Main observation
(Student)
- Comparing to primary school students, a higher percentage of secondary school students had adverse effects in different aspects, close to 70% of them reported that they had “Quarrel with parents” and “Deprive sleep time”
- A greater increase in percentage of primary school students with self-reported adverse effects of Internet and electronic screen products use as compared to their senior counterparts, “Quarrel with parents” (+11.5%) and “Deprive sleep time” (+10.2%) with double-digit increment from 2014 to 2017
- There is an obvious trend of primary school students spending more time on the Internet. In 2014, only 3.2% of interviewees spent more than 3 hours a day on the Internet, it increased sharply to 13.1% in 2017, a fourfold increase
Main observation
(Parents)
- Proportion of parents of primary school students considered their children spending too much time online and affecting their daily lives, showed a marked increase of 35.9%; from 26.6% in 2014 to 62.5% in 2017
- Over 70% of parents of primary as well as secondary school students had quarrelled with their children due to the use of Internet and electronic screen products. A marked increase is noted in parents of primary school students, from 44.3% in 2014 to 77.5% in 2017, increased by 33.2%
Health Assessment Questionnaires (HAQ) Analysis
| Primary School Students | Secondary School Students | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 2016-17 | Changes +/- | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | Changes +/- | ||
| On a typical school day, how many hours a day on average do you spend on the Internet or electronic screen products for purposes not related to school work? | ≥ 2 hours | 25.7%(18,900) | 30.0%(25,000) | +4.3% | 64.9% (41,900) | 68.1% (42,100) | +3.2% |
| During the past 7 days, on how many days did you do physical activities (i.e. any exercise and activity, including physical education lessons) for AT LEAST 60 minutes in total that made you breathe harder and your heartbeats faster than usual? | All 7 days | 8.9%(6,500) | 8.0%(6,700) | -0.9% | 3.8%(2,500) | 4.0%(2,500) | +0.2% |
| The night before a typical school day, how many hours of sleep do you get? | ≥ 8 hours | 58.9%(43,300) | 63.5%(52,900) | +4.6% | 21.1%(13,700) | 22.7%(14,000) | +1.6% |
Main observation
- Around 30% of primary school students and 68% of secondary school students reported they spent 2 hours or more on the Internet or electronic screen products for purposes not related to school work, which increased by 4.3% and 3.2% respectively from 2015-16 to 2016-17
- Only around 8 % of primary school students and 4% of secondary school students had fulfilled WHO’s recommendations i.e. school-aged children (5-17 years) should accumulated at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity daily
- Around 60% of primary school students and 20% of secondary students have 8 hours or more sleep time before a typical school day
Proposed Inclusion of “Gaming Disorder” in “International Classification of Diseases (ICA)”
World Health Organization is in the process to include “Gaming Disorder” in its 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), which is scheduled for publication in mid-2018
References：
World Health Organization “Gaming Disorder” Webpage:
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/gaming-disorder
Related Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ71KAO0mtc
What is "Gaming Disorder"?
- Impaired control over gaming
- Increasing priority given to gaming over other activities
- Continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences
- Significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning
- Evident for at least 12 months
Healthy Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products Webpage
https://www.studenthealth.gov.hk/english/internet/health_effects.html
- Health Tips
- Sm@rt e-Team
(for Parents, Teachers, Primary School Students & Secondary School) - e-Report & Executive Summary
- Health Tips Cartoons & Videos
- Media Links
Conclusion
Various government bureaux and departments, NGOs, schools and other relevant institutes in Hong Kong have been providing different programmes and services to address the problem of excessive use of Internet in children and adolescents
In addition to the publication of The Report of the Advisory Group on Health Effects on Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products (e-Report) in 2014, the Department of Health (DH) has also set up a “Healthy Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products” webpage to help students, parents and teachers to tackle this issue
The DH will continue to work with local partners (e.g. schools and NGOs) and interflow with International experts, to actively promulgate the information on healthy use of Internet. DH will also closely monitor the progress of World Health Organization’s latest update in the ICD and to act accordingly in a timely manner
Student Health Service, Department of Health
https://www.studenthealth.gov.hk/tc_chi/internet/files/healthy_use_of_internet_ppt_8_feb_2018.pdf