PHOTO BY MIA ALVARADO
(From left) Kylie Wheeler, freshman nursing major; Pritha Patel, junior biology major; Jayden Ross, junior marine biology major; and Teresa Arroyo, sophomore marine biology major, use their laptops in Razor’s Reef.
Technology has taken over the new generation, and research shows it is taking over people’s health, too.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, “High levels of screen time have been
linked with adverse health outcomes, including poor sleep habits, fatigue and symptoms of anxiety and depression.” As a part of Mako Media’s Health Update, Aarti Raja, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences,
discussed the effect screens have on college students’ overall health.
Q: As college students, we’re always on our phones or our laptops, whether it’s for class assignments or just our entertainment. How does that affect our physical health?
A: It is one of the unfortunate downsides of using technology. The main issue tends to be things like strain on our eyes. Eye strain occurs because we are looking at a computer screen for long periods. There is also a change in our posture because we are either bending forward to look at our mini-screens or not sitting upright and straight. There are back problems because of that and going hand-in-hand with the eyestrain. There also seems to be an increase in people having headaches.
Q: How does it affect mental health?
A: Spending a lot of time in front of the screen is impacting an individual’s mental well-being or health in general. People are spending more time on a device than interacting with other people. Not being in a social setting, people are increasingly experiencing loneliness. The surgeon general of the United States at one point indicated that loneliness might be the next epidemic or condition that we all must be worried about. Along with that, we are also seeing things like anxiety levels going up among people. Depression levels are rising among people, and so all these are adding to poorer mental well-being amongst us.
Q: How does the use of screens affect sleep patterns for college students?
A: In general, college students unfortunately don’t have the best sleep patterns because they are busy. But the added use of these devices has added to poor sleep patterns. What’s happening is they are sleeping less, so they are averaging less than seven hours of sleep a night. When they are sleeping, the sleep is pretty poor. It is disturbed sleep, so they are getting up every now and then to maybe check their phone or social media.
Q: What tips do you have for college students to improve their overall health?
A: The idea is to take 20-minute breaks from your devices. Spend 20 looking at something 20-feet away. It is shown to improve or help your vision. If you have poor vision, at least help with your eyestrain, and doing this every 20 minutes when you are in front of a computer can be beneficial for you. Research advocates that you do this 20-20-20 kind of philosophy. If college students can do that, that might help them along the way.
Q: Any last thoughts?
A: Be conscious of it, and I always tell my kids and students we live in South Florida: we have no excuse. The weather is great outside almost throughout the year. If we could spend more time outside and away from our phones and screens, it would help our physical and mental health.
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