Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

<p><strong>Background: </strong>Electronic gadgets and media have become an inadvertent part of our lives in today&rsquo;s era. Growth in mobile phone density has increased exponentially since the last 5 years.The adolescent populationhas seen a very significant increase in the mobile-phone usage, mainly because this gadget acquires much greater relevance in adolescence than it does in other developmental stages.Hence, the present study was carried out to find out the effect of the usage of electronic gadgets in the overall behaviour, academic performance and health of the school going children. <strong>Method: </strong>The sample size consisted of 240 students from age group 12 to 16 years. A questionnaire survey was conducted among these students at a government high school, Mangalore, Karnataka.The questionnaire assessed the overzealous use of electronic gadgets and their effects on children&rsquo;s behaviour, academic performance and overall health. <strong>Results: </strong>After the descriptive analysis of the data, it was found that 69% of the students like to use gadgets at night before sleeping of which 59% of the children complained of frequent headaches in the morning along with some difficulty in seeing the blackboard from back benches. 53% of the children had difficulty in concentrating during classes or at home while studying, hence reporting an overall fall in their grades. <strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Although use of electronic gadgets is not the sole leading cause to health problems, they do contribute significantly to a variety of mental and physical health disorders: obesity, sleep disorders, ophthalmic disorders, aggressive behaviour etc.<br>
<strong>Key words: </strong>Academic Performance, child behavior, electronic Gadgets.<strong></strong></p>
<p>Received: 18 December&nbsp; 2018&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Revised: 27 December 2018&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Accepted: 28 December 2018</p>
<p><strong>Corresponding author: </strong>Dr. Prachi Suman, A B Shetty Memorial Institute Of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India </p>
<p><strong>This article may be cited as:</strong> Hegde AM, Suman P,&nbsp; Unais M, Jeyakumar C. Effect of Electronic Gadgets on the Behaviour, Academic Performance and Overall Health of School Going Children- A Descriptive Study. J Adv Med Dent Scie Res 2019;7(1):100-103.</p>