VOA慢速英语2015 Too Much Gaming is a Pain in the Neck

Too Much Gaming is a Pain in the Neck

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle report.

Most children have heard their parents at one time or another yell “sit up straight!” or “don’t slouch!”

In the past, this was usually heard at the dinner table as children ate dinner. But these days, it is also heard around another activity – video games.

Ten-year old Owaish Batliwala, from Mumbai, India, admits he spends three to four hours each day playing games on his tablet computer. His mother Mehzabin became concerned when her son started saying that his neck hurt.

She said, "My son started having neck problems around June or July. The pain slowly spread to his hand and his back. He plays for hours on the iPad and mobile phone. This is what has caused the problem."

Sadia Vanjara is a physical therapist. She says the number of young children with chronic¹ pain in their necks, arms and shoulders is on the rise. Dr. Vanjara says the pain is not from aging, accidents or disease. It is from poor posture², or body position, while playing video games.

"They are not aging, they haven't had an accident, their age is like, under 10, they are not complaining, the blood reports are fine, their x-rays are fine, their MRI's are fine, then where is the culprit? And that is the very common thing that is happening amongst all children and that is smart phones and the gadgets⁴."

This is a problem in many parts of the world. But there are more smartphone users in India than anywhere else in the world, except China. Networking equipment company Cisco estimates that the number of smartphone users in India will increase from 140 million today to 651 million by 2020.

19-year old student Nida Jameel says she feels pain in the finger which holds the weight of her smartphone most of the day.

She says she uses her smartphone 24/7. This means 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or all the time.

"As I use phone 24/7 (all day) like, so probably yeah, it was because of the phone, continuous usage and Snapchat, Whatsapp, more and more you know social media coming, so like phone is the center of everything."

Dr. Vanjara says the best treatments for the pain are daily exercises.

"And start stretching it in all the possible directions that you can."

Correct posture can help prevent pain. Dr. Vanjara teaches children how to hold their gadgets correctly. She tells a patient to hold the gadget³ in front of the face. She says that bending the head down to look at the device, strains the neck and creates an unhealthy bend to the back.

Sadia Vanjara predicts we will see not only physical but psychological and emotional problems resulting from overuse of gadgets.

Experts advise taking breaks from using a computer or other device often. Stand up. Stretch your legs, back, shoulders and arms. And when your work or school work is done, unplug and exercise.

And that’s the Health and Lifestyle report.

Words in This Story

slouch – v. to walk, sit, or stand lazily with your head and shoulders bent⁵ forward

posture – n. the way in which your body is positioned when you are sitting or standing⁶

physical therapist– n. someone who treats a disease or injury of the muscles or joints⁷ with massage⁸, exercises, heat, etc.

chronic – adj. continuing or occurring again and again for a long time

strain – v. to injure (a body part or muscle) by too much tension, use or effort

unplug – v. to disconnect (something, such as a lamp or television) from an electrical source or another device by removing its plug

24/7 – adv., adj. twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; all the time

gadget – n. a small, useful device

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

3 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

4 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

8 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。