UAE: Does your kid suffer from ‘gaming disorder? Here are the warning signs to watch out for

UAE: Does your kid suffer from ‘gaming disorder? Here are the warning signs to watch out for

We should not get used to seeing kids glued to their smartphones playing online games instead of interacting at social events, or teenagers spending long hours focused on their tablets and laptops.

Health authorities said parents should see to it their kids are not overusing their gadgets. The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) recently tweeted the tell-tale signs to watch out for to prevent the young ones from having a ‘gaming disorder’ or heightened priority given to digital gaming over other activities.

3 warning signs and prevention

Here are the tell-tale signs:

Is your child fixating and continuously thinking about electronic games?

Is he/she losing interest in other activities and hobbies?

Is your child experiencing rapid mood swings and anger issues?

Mohap said the best way to avoid gaming disorder is for parents to establish agreed-upon gaming hours with their child, gradually reducing the gaming hours to a reasonable limit of one hour per day.

“Is it also important to involve the child in decisions about gaming hours,” noted Mohap, adding: “Discuss the negative effects of prolonged gaming, and encourage the practice of self-control skills.

The first step to reducing electronic game usage is to talk to the child about why he/she enjoys it and prevent him/her