Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ11: Healthy use of Internet and electronic screen products
Following is a question by the Hon Michael Tien and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today
(November 16):
Question:
At present, quite a number of members of the public have developed a habit of
prolonged use of electronic screen products for communicating with others,
watching television drama series, playing electronic games or browsing social
media. On the other hand, it has been pointed out in the Report of Advisory
Group on Health Effects of Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products
(Report) published by the Department of Health in 2014 that the use of
electronic screen products by children and adolescents may cause physical health
problems such as blurred vision, overstressing of muscles, injuries and
accidents, as well as psychosocial health problems such as Internet addiction
and hindrance to social skill development. The Report has made a number of
recommendations which include avoiding the use of electronic screen products by
children under two years old as far as possible, and limiting the recreational
screen time for children under 12 years old to no more than two hours a day.
However, the findings of a survey conducted last year showed that about 30 per
cent of young children started using electronic screen products when they were
under two years old. This year, there were media reports that the degrees of
myopia of a boy, who had spent two to three hours a day on tablet computers
since four years old, increased by 100 degrees in each of the past three years.
The aforesaid situations show that quite a number of members of the public have
overlooked the recommendations made in the Report, which has aroused concerns.
In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of cases in each of the
past three years in which members of the public got injured in accidents because
they were too absorbed in using electronic screen products; if it has, of a
breakdown by the age group to which such members of the public belonged;
(2) of the respective current percentages of primary and secondary school
students suffering from myopia; the changes in such percentages in the past
decade, and how they compare with the relevant percentages in other
countries/places; whether it knows if there are scientific research findings
proving that prolonged use of electronic screen products is one of the causes of
the worsening of the problem of children and adolescents suffering from myopia;
if there is no such research, whether the authorities will conduct the
researches concerned;
(3) of the resources allocated by the Government since the publication of the
Report to publicise the recommendations made in the Report;
(4) whether it has conducted tracking studies on the use of electronic screen
products by children and adolescents to verify the effectiveness of the
recommendations made in the Report; and
(5) of its plan to conduct extensive publicity activities to raise the awareness
of parents and teachers of the need to prevent children from using electronic
screen products at too early an age and for a prolonged period?
Reply:
President,
The Department of Health (DH) has been very concerned about the potential health
risks posed by the increasing use of Internet and electronic screen products to
children and adolescents. In December 2013, the DH convened the Advisory Group
on Health Effects of Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products (Advisory
Group) to discuss on the relevant issues, and conducted a survey on the use of
Internet and electronic screen products among pre-school children, primary and
secondary school students, their parents and teachers. After consolidating the
survey results and the suggestions from the Advisory Group, the DH published the
Report of Advisory Group on Health Effects of Use of Internet and Electronic
Screen Products (Report) in 2014 and provided recommendations on healthy use of
Internet and electronic screen products for children and adolescents, parents
and teachers. My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows.
(1) No such data is available in the DH.
(2) Myopia is one of the common refractive errors of vision. The situation of
myopia among children in Hong Kong is comparable with our Asian counterparts
such as Singapore and Taiwan. However, when comparing to children from some of
the Western countries, Hong Kong children have higher prevalence and earlier
onset of myopia. In the past 10 school years (i.e. from school year 2005/06 to
school year 2014/15), the percentage of primary and secondary school students
who were already wearing glasses (including glasses that correct visual problems
such as myopia, astigmatism, myopia and astigmatism) when they underwent the
visual acuity test at the Student Health Service (SHS) Centres of the DH are set
out at Annex.
The onset and progression of myopia are largely influenced by genetic
predisposition (such as ethnicity and family history of myopia), behavioural
risk factors (such as poor reading habits) and environmental exposures (such as
level of urbanisation). Prolonged use of computer is found to be associated with
Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), which is a group of eye and vision-related
problems that result from using computer for a prolonged period. Symptoms such
as eyestrain, blurred and double vision, are generally caused by refractive,
accommodative or vergence anomalies. The underlying pathology of CVS still needs
to be further studied. Poor reading habits and inappropriate use of electronic
screen products may also lead to progression of myopia.
(3) Since the release of the Report, the DH has redeployed internal resources to
publicise and promulgate eye care messages and the recommendations made by the
Report through various channels. Therefore, it is unable to provide the
breakdown on the relevant resources allocated.
(4) The DH has not conducted additional follow-up cohort study on the use of
electronic screen products in children and adolescents. Nevertheless, the DH has
been keeping in view the relevant situation and has made reference to researches
and reports published by relevant institutions. These include large scale
surveys and research reports in Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom as
well as local Thematic Household Surveys. Moreover, since 2014, the DH
representatives have participated in meetings organised by the World Health
Organization (WHO) for the past three consecutive years to discuss on public
health implications of mental and behavioural disorders associated with
excessive use of Internet and electronic devices. In September 2016, the WHO and
the DH co-organised a three-day Meeting on Policy and Programme Reponses to
Mental and Behavioural Disorders associated with Excessive Use of the Internet
and other Communication and Gaming Platforms in Hong Kong. Experts from 20
countries/areas and local government officials, as well as representatives from
academic and welfare sectors were invited to review and share with the WHO
advisers on the updated information and discuss the way forward to prevent and
reduce public health problems associated with excessive use of Internet and
electronic devices. All participants acknowledged the work done by Hong Kong in
this arena and considered the Report a very useful reference. The DH will
continue to actively participate in research and discussion with both local and
overseas institutions and closely monitor relevant researches and development.
(5) In this digital era, children start to be exposed to Internet and electronic
products at young age and continue to go online for learning, communication and
entertainment as they grow up. Therefore, raising public awareness of the health
risks arising from excessive and inappropriate use and the tips to use the
technology in a healthy way are of utmost importance. The DH has been working
through different channels to promulgate relevant information including health
tips to protect eye and vision. With the release of the Report, the DH has also
published a set of four modules of health tips for parents, teachers, primary
and secondary school students and set up a designated web page for public to
search, browse and download relevant health materials.
Besides, over the past two years, the DH has also worked with different
government departments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media through
diverse channels and activities, including topical seminars, radio programmes,
media interviews, educational drama shows, school quiz competitions, family
jogging race and road shows. to raise the awareness of parents, teachers,
primary and secondary school students, social welfare sector, education sector,
health sector and general public on the probable harmful effects to children and
students caused by using electronic screen products as well as the
recommendations on healthy use of these products and Internet. Targeting on
young users, the DH produced a series of four episodes on health tips using
cartoon animation. Another motion graphics was also produced for professional
sector. Besides, featured articles were written in the regular newsletters to
parents and schools. The Report, relevant recommendations, motion graphics and
other materials have been uploaded in the designated web page and the web pages
of the Family Health Service, the SHS of the DH as well as that of other
collaborating institutions for public browsing and sharing.
To echo the annual International Safer Internet Day in February each year and
the Ear Care Day in March each year, the SHS produced posters and souvenirs with
QR code of the designated web page for display and dissemination in all SHS
Centres. These materials were also mailed to the parent teacher associations of
all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, public libraries, Integrated
Family Service Centres, Integrated Children and Youth Service Centres and
community service centres of NGOs for their reference and promotion. As
mentioned above, the DH took the opportunity in working with the WHO in
September 2016 to organise an open Seminar on Public Health Issues of Excessive
Use of Internet, Computers, Smartphones and Similar Electronic Devices so as to
learn from and discuss with experts from overseas as well as advisers of the WHO
on the issue of tackling potential health risks relating to the use of Internet
and electronic screen products.
The DH will continue to carry out health promotional activities as listed above
and work with other institutions to further promulgate relevant health messages.
Moreover, production of audio-visual health materials in the format of short
video clips and infographics will be strengthened for dissemination to target
groups through web pages, school newsletters, social network sites, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:47
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LCQ11 Annex