Azrul Mohd Khalib, chief executive of Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, said experts at a World Health Organisation meeting in 2014 had identified potential physical and social consequences of excessive use of the internet, computers and smartphones.
“Nowhere did the experts indicate that addiction to the internet or electronic devices causes autism or so-called signs of autism,” Azrul told FMT.
On Friday, a Bernama report quoted Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia senior lecturer Nurhafizah Mohd Sukor as calling for controls over the use of social media and online video games, saying that addiction could lead to mental disorders.
She was also reported as saying that the affected individuals may lose their ability to speak or converse, their movements become passive and they may develop signs of autism even though they are not autistic.
However, Azrul said, internet addiction was regarded as one of the largest health problems affecting children, and countries such as China, Taiwan, India, Singapore and South Korea had set up internet addiction centres.
Malaysia could follow suit, starting with gaming disorders as this had been properly defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and Malaysia could develop expertise in this area.
“It could be a place of treatment and research, offering support and advice to those who need it and their families. This will be a new area for mental health in Malaysia.”
Azrul said the WHO experts at the 2014 meeting had found that internet addiction, or overuse of electronic devices, could cause such problems as obesity, arising out of a sedentary lifestyle; visual and hearing impairment; musculoskeletal problems; poor social development; sleep deprivation; aggression; poor psychological well-being; and a lack of self-confidence.