At the current stage, information and communication technologies and digital learning tools are actively used in the education system. The so-called digital educational environment is being formed, which is a set of information systems for ensuring different tasks of the educational process. It allows you to expand the possibilities of building the educational trajectory of students, increase the interest of children and adolescents in the subjects studied by means of showing objects and interactive forms of learning, as well as to develop an educational initiative. However, despite the positive aspects of the digital educational environment, there are also negative factors affecting the health of students. These negative factors lead to deterioration of the nervous, visual, endocrine system, as well as other systems of the developing bodies, the formation of functional diseases and the progression of chronic pathology. For example, it has been established that if there are nospecial preventive measures, the level of functional overstrain of the human body increases, which leads to a decrease in mental performance. Electronic devices used in educational activities are able to optimize the learning process only if they are used rationally in terms of health. In the current digitalization of education, the development of a modern scientifically based practical model of medical and hygienic support of students in a digital educational environment and its testing in general education organizations is of particular importance. It allows to develop the new health-saving technologies, and substantiate criteria and algorithms for assessing the information load of students at the individual, group and population levels. The article discusses the health-related problems of digital schools that require safe learning conditions in order to maintain the health of children and adolescents in a digital educational environment

Introduction: Current school teaching methods including distance learning may have adverse health effects in children. Objective: To assess health effects of online education in students of comprehensive secondary schools and gymnasiums. Materials and methods: We developed a questionnaire to establish the impact of distance learning on the functional state and health of students comprising three sections: educational activities, daily routine and self-rated health. In May 2020, 3,026 fifth to ninth-year students from eight comprehensive schools and five gymnasiums of the city of Nizhny Novgorod, including 1,430 boys and 1,596 girls, filled out the questionnaire and their answers were then analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software, version 5.1. Results: Distance learning included online and offline classes (70.7 % in total) and self-study assignments, the latter being more common in the comprehensive schools than in the gymnasiums. The majority of the respondents from the schools (73.4 %) and gymnasiums (67.0 %) noted a greater amount of homework during e-learning compared to offline education. They also reported less time spent outdoors and much more passive leisure. Complaints of increased back and wrist pain and headaches were more frequent in the students of comprehensive secondary schools. Conclusions: Our findings show that distance learning changed the way of life of all the children surveyed. We observed an increased screen time, the prevalence of static activities, and the development of musculoskeletal and eye disorders. The comprehensive school students noted more negative consequences of online learning compared to their peers studying in the gymnasiums.

Introduction. Distance education means a way of organizing education based on the use of information and communication technologies which make it possible to perform remote learning without a direct face-to-face contact between a teacher and students. The new coronavirus pandemic has caused distance learning to become a reality in the modern education system. However, in the course of application of such a teaching format, it has been revealed electronic digital devices to negatively affect students’ health. However, in the course of such a teaching format, there emerge certain negative factors which influence on the student health. In this regard, there is a need for up-to-date hygiene standards that promote the regulation of education based on distance technologies. The study objective. To assess the impact of distance learning on the health of students of general educational institutions. Materials and methods. 135 students of grades 6-8, 10 of general educational organizations were surveyed to identify the features of learning mode and daily routine in general, the information education during distance learning and deviations from the normal state of health. An ophthalmological examination was performed using a Shin Nippon XL-1 hand-held slit lamp, OMEGA 500 Unplugged Binocular Indirect Ophthalmoscope, ophthalmological tonometer «TVGD-02», hardware and software complex KPA-01 «Zrenie». Results. A revealed negative tendency indicates to the deterioration of the students’ vision over a short period of distance education (November-December 2020) in general educational institutions of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Besides, distance learning triggers physical and emotional overload as well as mental overstrain. Limitations. The impact of distance learning on children and adolescents’ health was studied on a group of students in grades 6-8, 10 of two general educational institutions in Nizhny Novgorod, which is a sufficiently representative sample. Conclusion. The obtained results of the study can be used to support the hygienic requirements for the management of distance learning in general educational institutions.

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Modernization of the school education system is the main task of the Russian educational policy. The introduction of digital learning tools into the educational process, their continued use by students during training sessions requires a new understanding from a hygienic point of view, improvement of medical and preventive support of students in the educational process. The article substantiates the need to prevent the adverse impact of the digital environment on the health of students.