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‘Alarming’ increase in tech-related injuries in Danish kids

The Local Denmark
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‘Alarming’ increase in tech-related injuries in Danish kids
Physiotherapists warn that kids' posture while playing on tablets and phones can cause injuries that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Photo: Colourbox

Between 2008 and 2014, the number of Danish children who have visited a physiotherapist has exploded and experts say that the use of smartphones and tablets is to blame.

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Over the course of six years, there was a 47 percent increase in physiotherapist treatment for children aged 10 to 14 and a 33 percent increase for those aged five to nine, TV2 reported. 
 
The children report muscle pains in their necks and backs as well as headaches that experts say are caused by too many hours spent hunched over playing games and watching videos on their gadgets. 
 
“[These types of problems] are something one would normally go to a physiotherapist with after the age of 50. Now we are suddenly seeing children seeking out physiotherapists,” Tina Lambrecht, the chairman of the the national association of physiotherapists, Danske Fysioterapeuter, told TV2. 
 
“This is a sign that we are now very early in life getting the types of injuries associated with hard physical work. These injuries won’t necessarily go away again, so this is very alarming,” she added. 
 
Lambrecht said that both parents and schools, which are increasingly incorporating tablets into daily learning, have a responsibility to ensure that children don’t do physical damage to themselves through their use of electronic gadgets. 
 
“It’s good to use new technology but one must ensure that it is kept in check so that kids don’t sit with [phones and tablets] for too many hours. And you also have to make sure that it is supplemented with physical activity,” she told TV2. 

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