The effects of mobile media devices and internet on daily lives and health of children

Introduction: We aim to determine the health effects of the use of internet via the use of mobile media devices, which are the reflection of today's ever-evolving technology on our daily life. Material and Method: We included 220 children between the ages of 5 and 18 who applied to the outpatient clinic in Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Abant Izzet Baysal University. We conducted a face-to-face survey for enrolled children. In the survey, name, surname, age, gender, number of siblings, height, weight, body mass indexes of children and parents, and corresponding z scores, school status, the education level and the working status of parents, the monthly income of the family, the time spent of the family and the child by the screen, the use of the internet, the reasons for internet use, the type of devices for internet, the duration of internet use and the type of nutrition. In our study the relationship between parents' educational level, gender and educational status of children, internet and computer use, the relationship between children's social media preference according to their gender and educational status, the relationship between internet filtering according to parents' educational status, and the relation between the time spent by the television were compared. Results: The use of the internet via mobile media devices as computers and mobile phones has been found to increase in proportion to the increase in age and education level in children. Conclusion: While technological advancements make children's life easier, they lead to problems like sedentary lifestyle, obesity and sleep problems, etc. Key Words: Mobile media devices, internet, daily life, health, obesity, children