Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Department of Community Ophthalmology, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 Dec;69(12):3623-3629. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2096_21.
To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on lifestyle of school-going children.
This was a questionnaire-based prospective study of 1237 school children aged 9-14 years enrolled from various private and government schools across Delhi in October-December 2020. These children were being followed-up over the previous 2 years (before pandemic) with details of their lifestyle like near/outdoor/reading activities using a questionnaire as a part of another study. The data during the COVID-19 lockdown was collected by telephonic interview. This was compared to similar information collected from this cohort in the pre-Covid period in 2019 when the students had a regular physical school curriculum.
A significant decline was noted in time spent on outdoor activity (from 8.5 hours/week in pre-COVID-19 time to 1.6 hours/week during COVID-19 lockdown; P < 0.001) and doing homework offline (from 15.3 hour/week to 14 hours/week; P < 0.001). A significant increase was noted in screen time spent on digital devices (from 6.2 hours/week to 19.8 hours/week; P<0.001), and watching television (from 12.2 hours/week to 13.4 hours/week; P < 0.001). The rise in the digital on-screen time was significantly more in boys (P < 0.001) and in students from private schools (P < 0.001). The rise in the duration of watching television was significantly more in girls than boys (P < 0.05).
COVID-19 lockdown has markedly impacted the lifestyle of school children by significantly decreasing the outdoor activity and increasing the screen time, thereby pre-disposing them to ocular ill-health and myopia. This necessitates the adoption of guidelines for promoting healthy digital habits in children.
评估 COVID-19 封锁限制对在校儿童生活方式的影响。
这是一项基于问卷调查的前瞻性研究，共纳入 2020 年 10 月至 12 月来自德里各地私立和公立学校的 1237 名 9-14 岁的在校儿童。在 COVID-19 大流行之前的过去 2 年中，通过问卷调查对这些儿童的生活方式进行了详细随访，包括户外活动、室内活动、阅读等方面。在 COVID-19 封锁期间，通过电话访谈收集数据。这与该队列在 2019 年新冠大流行前收集的类似信息进行了比较，当时学生有正常的学校课程。
户外活动时间（从 COVID-19 前的每周 8.5 小时降至封锁期间的每周 1.6 小时；P<0.001）和线下做作业时间（从每周 15.3 小时降至每周 14 小时；P<0.001）显著减少。数字设备屏幕时间（从每周 6.2 小时增加到每周 19.8 小时；P<0.001）和看电视时间（从每周 12.2 小时增加到每周 13.4 小时；P<0.001）显著增加。男孩（P<0.001）和私立学校学生（P<0.001）的数字屏幕时间增加更为显著。女孩看电视时间的增加明显高于男孩（P<0.05）。
COVID-19 封锁显著改变了在校儿童的生活方式，显著减少了户外活动时间，增加了屏幕时间，从而使他们更容易出现眼部健康问题和近视。这需要采取措施，为儿童制定促进健康数字习惯的指南。
