The Impact of Ergonomics on Children Studying Online During COVID-19 Lockdown

Background: Human body is still in the process of evolution.Incorrect ergonomics at workplace including working from home is not free from serious long-term health effects.Lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic, people stayed indoors.This has led children to depend on online classes, training and meetings.In view of this, study was undertaken to assess the effects of ergonomic settings on children spending more time on devices.Methods: About 186 children (aged between 10-18 years of both sexes) and their parents volunteered to respond to online survey with a questionnaire covering awareness of parents on ergonomics, problems encountered by children on 'make-shift' workplace adjustments, hours of sitting, screen time, eye-monitor ergonomics, backrest, footrest, keyboard & mouse ergonomics, breaks during work and gadgets they used.Problems encountered by the children were analysed.This was conducted 60 days after the first day of lockdown in Hyderabad (23 March 2020).Results & Discussion: Children spent longer hours on gadgets, on laptops (58%), android / apple phones (20%), desktops (12%) and tablets (10%).Their content on gadgets was 45% curriculum, 35% games and 20% others.Study revealed that parents were unaware of ergonomics and effects on their children.Very few parents understood the correct sitting posture (6%), eye-monitor ergonomics (1%), laptop ergonomics (3%) and (38%) importance of breaks.About 21% of subjects suffered upper back pain, 18% lower back pain, 13% eye strain, 11% headache, 6% had irregular sleep and 6% behavioural changes.Effects of wrong posture during work, repetition, loading and probable cause for pain were discussed in the paper.Conclusion: This pilot exploratory study revealed that parents and students were not aware of ergonomics.In a short duration of two months, lot of them have developed significant problems and this may increase the risk of many painful syndromes in future.These incorrect student-occupation practices may develop into permanent habits.There is a need of inclusion of ergonomics and workplace management in school curriculum, parents and teachers need training in the subject.More controlled studies are required to develop lifestyle strategies to combat these inevitable problems.