Child's Posture Begins to Bow? It Could Be Because They Have Been Using Gadgets for Too Long

Illustration of a child playing a gadget. (Freepik)

JAKARTA - The posture of children who are increasingly bent is now often a daily sight. Turns out, this condition can be caused by the habit of staring at the screen of the gadget for a long time.

The change in posture usually occurs due to children who often bend both when playing games and watching, unknowingly affecting the way they sit to the position of the neck.

If left unchecked, this condition not only affects physical appearance, but also has the potential to affect the child's overall health.

Member of the Indonesian Association of Pediatricians (IDAI), Tuty Herawati, reminded that excessive use of gadgets in the long term cannot be considered trivial.

"If you look at it at first glance, it may just be a posture change like bending. But, inside it can be related to the nervous system, so this is not something that can be taken lightly," he said in an activity in Jakarta.

He explained that exposure to gadgets that are too intense, especially at the age of five to 15 years, an important phase in child growth, can affect the growth and development process.

According to him, the impact that arises depends very much on the duration of use as well as the balance between screen time and other activities. Children who remain active, moving, playing outside, and exercising tend to have a lower risk than those who spend most of their time with gadgets.

Long-term unsupervised use of gadgets can also increase the risk of disorders in posture, muscles, and nerve function. In fact, in some cases, the impact can last until the child becomes an adult.

In addition to physical factors, aspects of brain development are also a concern. Professor of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Rose Mini Agoes Salim, explained that children's brains need various stimuli to develop optimally.

"In the golden age, children's brains are very open to various stimuli. But if all you get is that, then other abilities are not stimulated," he explained.

He added that monotonous stimulation, such as repeated exposure to digital content, can make the development of inter-neural connections not optimal. This condition can even trigger what is called a brain drop, which is a decrease in the optimization of brain function due to a lack of experience variation.

"What makes the brain develop is not the size, but the number of inter-neural connections. These connections are formed from variations in experience and stimulation," he said.

Therefore, he emphasized the importance of giving children diverse experiences, ranging from physical activities, social interactions, to exploration of the surrounding environment.

In fact, the sophistication of technology can still be used as one source of learning. However, its use needs to be limited so that it does not become the only form of stimulation for children.

Protection efforts are also strengthened through government policies, one of which is through Government Regulation Number 17 of 2025 concerning the Governance of the Implementation of Electronic Systems in the Protection of Children.

However, the role of the family remains the main key. Parents are expected to regulate the duration of device use, accompany children when accessing digital content, and encourage other activities that are more varied to support optimal growth and development.