October 20, 1999

More and more Americans are venturing into cyberspace each day. However, lost in the excitement of the wiring of America is the fact that computers do pose some health risks.

One of the dangers that comes with spending more time with your computer is an increase in repetitive stress injuries. Repeating the same physical movements over and over again and again can cause damage to tendons, muscles, nerves and other soft body tissues.

While carpal tunnel syndrome is the best known of the these injuries, there are a host of others including tendonitis, bursitis and thoracic outlet syndrome.

While adults may be aware of the risks, chances are that many children are not. According to Dr. Alan Hedge, Professor of Ergonomics at Cornell University, little attention is being paid to the potential dangers faced by youngsters.

"There's a big push to get kids to become more computer literate and more computer savvy," said Hedge. At the same time, little is being done in terms of teaching youngsters to use the new technology in a safe manner.

"The injuries that occur are lifelong injuries," said Hedge, who added, "It's no more difficult to learn how to do something correctly than it is to learn to do something incorrectly."

Among his suggestions for concerned parents are to make adjustments to the chair, the monitor, the keyboard and the mouse used by the child.

Hedge maintains that the best position for the keyboard is to have it just above the lap with the keyboard angled slightly down away from the child. This helps keeps the wrists in what he called "a neutral position" and thus avoids stress and strain on the joints.

As for the monitor, a recent Cornell study of 95 elementary school children found that "more than half of the monitors were higher than adult recommended levels." The study went on to say that the children were "looking sharply up at monitors with their legs dangling unsupported on the floor."

Recent research indicates that the best position for monitors is slightly lower than eye-level and further away. Children should have their feet resting on the floor, or on some sort of footrest that parents can devise.

Given that scenario, large fonts become important. Children, sitting at a workstation that's just fine for their parents, may find themselves craning forward to read small type and icons. Such movements may be placing unnecessary stress on their neck and shoulder muscles as well as their backs.

Another suggestion to keep in mind is to encourage young users to grasp the mouse lightly. In fact, parents should try to get their children to learn to use the keyboard equivalents of mouse commands. After all, twisting and turning the wrist in an array of positions hour after hour, day after day, isn't doing anyone any good.

Parents who are really concerned might want to try to eliminate unnecessary computer usage. While chatting on-line is fun, are there times when a telephone call will do the job?

One researcher also suggests avoiding video games as they often lead to prolonged sessions with intense typing and mouse use.

Everyone knows the importance of taking breaks. According to Hedge, users -- both young and old -- shouldn't go more than 30 minutes without taking a break.

"They should get up and use different muscles," he said. "Even in a good posture, you can't stay in that position for too long."

While software is available that will automatically advise users when to take a break, Hedge said that an egg time serves the same purpose.

According to Hedge, it's crucial to consider all the body segments of the child using the computer.

He points put that "the injury clock can be anywhere from a few months to 10 years." In other words, your child may be doing long-term damage that may not manifest itself for quite some time -- but just because it isn't visible (or painful, at the moment) doesn't mean that it won't be in the future.

At the Cornell Web site, (http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/) parents can access a checklist that will aid them in checking for such things as proper posture and hand position.

Hedge also says that the children most at risk are those who have just hit puberty. "The body is changing rapidly and the chances for postural misfit are greater," he cautioned.

At the moment, there aren't too many products on the market that can help alleviate the potential for injury. One that may provide some relief is the Little Fingers keyboard. Manufactured by Datadesk, Little Fingers is approximately 20 percent smaller than the normal adult keyboard making it ideal for youngsters or adults with small hands.

William Frankel, vice president of Datadesk, put it this way. "If you wear a size six shoe, and someone asked you to play baseball wearing a size eight, Could you do it? You probably could, but you wouldn't play as well as if you were wearing the right size shoes."

With the Little Fingers, youngsters can actually learn to touch type with out straining to reach the keys or developing bad habits. Two different models -- one with a trackball and one with a number pad -- are currently available.

Dr. Hedge believes that the keyboard can help those with a small finger span.

More important, perhaps, is the fact that it may help youngsters avoid learning bad habits that will have to be broken learn when they actually are taught typing in school.

For more information on the Little Fingers, call the firm's toll number 206-842-5480 or visit the website at www.datadesktech.com/.  (In Australia -DBZ at www.dbz.com.au )

There are no magical cure-alls when it comes to children and computers. However, awareness that youngsters are at risk and a desire to eliminate or minimize those risks is the best way to address the problem.

After all, in this high-tech age of RAM, ROM mousing and megabytes, the old adage about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure still holds true.