Health: Young risk computer injury

Schoolchildren are increasingly at risk from work-related disorders such as Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), a conference will be told this week. Classrooms could become "minefields" for young victims if they are not made aware of the potential dangers of working with new technology, it will be claimed.

The warning will be made by the Body Action Campaign, a charity group which aims to teach children how to use their bodies properly, at a conference at the TUC in London tomorrow. "Many teenagers have already been diagnosed with chronic pain problems and some are even having to give up their studies because the pain makes studying impossible," said a campaign official. "The potential effect on children as computers become a significant feature of their early development is almost too frightening to imagine," said the official.

The TUC estimates that 5.5 million working days are lost every year to upper limb disorders such as RSI and more than 100,000 new medical cases are being reported each year.