Results of the analytical development of data of the official statistical reporting on morbidity on negotiability of children and teenagers of the city of Moscow during 2005-2013 have shown the preservation of steady negative trends in the rise of the general morbidity, incidences of respiratory and school-related diseases, including diseases of musculoskeletal system, myopia etc. According to the longitudinal study of the state of health and physical development of the Moscow school pupils from 1 to 11 classes (2005-2015) the gain of the prevalence rate of functional disorders and chronic diseases in the course of school ontogenesis has been shown. The leading violations of students’ health with a tendency to increase in the prevalence rate are: functional violations of the musculoskeletal system, blood circulatory system, organ of vision, neuro-psychiatric disorders, as well as chronic diseases of musculoskeletal system, digestive and vision organs. In all age and sex groups of schoolchildren there is a reliable increase in body length and weight, chest circumference, acceleration of biological maturation in comparison with peers of the last decades. Indices of the muscular force of the right hand in modern schoolchildren have decreased in comparison with the supervision of 1960s and 1980s. The necessary condition of health preservation of children and teenagers is the providing safe and optimum conditions of education, training and life activity. The assessment of the efficiency of sanitary and epidemiological surveillance of training conditions of children and teenagers has shown an insufficient informational content of the assessment of a sanitary state of educational organizations on groups of sanitary and epidemiologic wellbeing (SEW). Institutions with the reduced SEW level (2 groups) were proved to have a significantly higher risk of formation of diseases, including school caused diseases. It has been developed a modern classification of the assessment of conditions and modes of training of children at the school characterizing the risk degree to health of students of training conditions (optimum, admissible, potentially dangerous and dangerous). In addition new standard and methodical documents on carrying out sanitary-epidemiological expertise for the provision of sanitary and epidemiological welfare of students in secondary schools have been developed and proved.

Transition to distance education in spring 2020 led to the overuse of information and communication technologies by the participants of the educational process. The aim of this study was to characterize the patterns of using electronic devices in high school students, their parents, and teachers in the settings of traditional brick-and-mortar education and distance learning. We created online questionnaires that were used to survey 200 high school students, 389 teachers and 251 parents before the transition to distance learning and also 658 teachers and 500 parents after the transition. Statistical analysis was conducted using Student’s t test, χ2, and Pearson’s contingency coefficient; relative risks were calculated using fourfold contingency tables. Differences were considered significant at p ≤ 0,05. After the transition to distance learning, the number of electronic devices used by each student increased for 96.6% of the surveyed students; the average screen time also increased. About 80% of the surveyed parents reported that their children had more health complaints; of them, 60% reported symptoms typical of computer vision syndrome. We established a correlation between the readiness to cut down on screen time and the subjective assessment of vision as perfect or good by the respondents (Pearson’s contingency coefficient 0.3; p ≤ 0.05). Our study confirms the relative risk for subjectively assessing one’s vision as satisfactory or poor in individuals who use ED on a daily basis; the risk is 1.13 for students, 1.41 for parents, and 1.27 for teachers (p ≤ 0.05). The study proves that eliminating screen time from daily activities for at least one day per week is an effective measure for preventing vision disorders.

In modern social economic and ecologo-hygienic conditions of big cities all age groups of children and adolescents aged 8–15 years present a significant decrease of functional indicators (muscle force of the right hand) in comparison with their peers of 60s and 80s of the XX century. The similar findings occur in other regions and age groups. The analysis of the reasons of this phenomenon is one of key problems for researches.

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The impact of excessive exposure to electronic devices (ED) on youth health remains understudied. There is a pressing need to develop recommendations for the safe use of stationary and mobile ED aimed at minimizing health risks. In this work, we assess the effect of ED on the physical growth and development of high-school and university students and provide recommendations for preventing the negative impact of prolonged screen time on health. The study recruited 460 high-school and 598 university students. Standard anthropometric measurements were taken. The psychological and emotional state of the participants was evaluated using the Test Anxiety Inventory by Spielberg (modified by Khanin). To estimate daily and weekly exposure to ED the participants were asked to fill out standardized questionnaires. In high school students, the average screen time was 7 h a day; in university students, 8.5 to 10 h a day. Only 60% of the participants, regardless of their place of residence or the type of educational institution they were attending, were physically healthy. We conclude that prolonged and frequent exposure to ED is one of the factors that can interfere with normal physical growth and development in youth. Regular daily use of stationary ED increases the risk of developing body weight deficit by 24% and gaining excess body weight by 10%. We recommend that students should eliminate computers, laptops and stationary ED from their daily activities for at least one day at the weekend and reduce total screen time to 3 hours a day.