Boosting health with tech

Using technology wisely

Technology can help maintain your health when used thoughtfully and in moderation.

Like any behaviour, technology can have positive or negative impacts on your wellbeing, depending on how you use it.

Find out what a healthy balance looks like with information from the eSafety Commissioner about screen time for your child and how to manage your screen time for young people.

Physical fitness

Fitness trackers, such as step-counters or running apps, can help motivate anyone to exercise or just be more active.

Modern game consoles can track movement. Parents and carers can decide what fits their and their child's needs. There are, for example, games like Just Dance, where players compete by physically dancing, and fitness-focused games such as Ring Fit Adventure, which comes with a resistance ring and athletic straps. Augmented reality (AR) games like Pokémon Go encourage players to go for long walks to get the most out of the game.

To help reduce eye strain, take regular breaks from using screens using the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 metres away for 20 seconds.

Psychological health

Apps for smartphones have made it easy to access mindfulness and meditation sessions. Recent research suggests that mindfulness practice can help people to break bad habits.

If you're feeling isolated, find support through social media and other online forums.

For online counselling, phone support, and forums visit Headspace, geared for 12-25-year-olds, or Beyond Blue.

Digital technology also makes some therapeutic treatments more accessible. Recent research shows that clinically developed online therapy can be highly effective. There are many free, confidential programs, such as the Black Dog Institute's MyCompass.

Sleep

Bright screen light from mobile devices can disrupt your sleep patterns. You can enable a blue light filter in your settings to reduce the effect. But social media updates and the temptation of auto-playing videos can make it difficult to get to sleep.

If you're having trouble falling asleep, some apps may help, whether by playing white noise or using short, guided meditations.

The mindfulness and meditation app Smiling Mind has programs for schools.

When it comes to getting enough sleep, the best thing to do might be to turn off your devices altogether and take a break.

The Australian Department of Health guidelines for children and young people recommend:

• children aged 5-13 years get 9 to 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep
• young people aged 14-17 years get 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep.