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Time becomes inconsequential the minute Ryan Marcelo turns on his computer. After logging on to one of his favourite game sites -- RuneScape, Ragnarok and MapleStory are his top three picks -- he starts clicking away, his eyes fixed on the animated characters on the screen.

"I play every day, sometimes for more than four hours straight," Ryan, a 14-year-old resident of Pickering, just outside Toronto, said. "When I'm finished playing, sometimes my eyes are heavy, sometimes I just feel really tired."

A familiar story? In households with children and computers, there's a good chance of meeting tech-savvy youngsters like Ryan, who, by their own admission, spend way too much time in front of their computers. And, like Ryan, these children are starting to feel aches and pains as a result of frequent and prolonged computer use.

Now that desktop PCs, laptops, cellphones and e-mail devices such as the BlackBerry have become as commonplace as ashtrays once were in offices and homes, more and more children are experiencing the same types of computer-related discomfort that adults have complained about in the past decade, Margo Fraser, executive director of the Calgary-based Association of Canadian Ergonomists, said.

"What we're seeing is children reporting levels of computer-related discomfort close to what adults are reporting," said Ms. Fraser, who also owns an ergonomics consulting business. "They're reporting that their eyes are bothering them, and that they're feeling pain or discomfort in their necks, backs and in their hands, arms and wrists."

Findings from the Young Canadians in a Wired World research project reveal how computing has become an everyday part of life for Canadian youngsters. Close to 40 per cent of children 4 to 11 have their own Internet-linked computer, and more than 20 per cent have a cellphone, on which they thumb instant messages to friends. And if Canadian children are anything like their American counterparts, they probably account for more than 30 per cent of video gamers in this country.

But does the growing use of technology among children translate into widespread incidences of computer-related health problems? Research in this area has been scarce, but the few studies that do exist suggest that such injuries are prevalent among children and teens. A study of 10- to 17-year-old Australians attending schools with mandatory laptop programs showed that about 60 per cent said they suffered discomfort, mostly in the neck and shoulder areas.

Ms. Fraser's own study, of a Southern Alberta private school where every student in Grade 6 and up uses a laptop for several hours a day, found that 80 to 85 per cent of sixth- and seventh-graders suffered from neck and lower back pain. Both groups also complained of pain or discomfort in the head, eyes, shoulders, upper back, hands, arms and wrists.

Shrikant Chinchalkar, senior hand therapist at St. Joseph's Health Centre in London, Ont., said his first experience with such complaints occurred eight years ago, when a six-year-old boy was brought to the hospital because of pain in his thumbs.

"He had an inflammation of some kind," recalled Mr. Chinchalkar, who has since seen a half-dozen similar cases. "He had been using the Game Boy, or some kind of hand-held electronic toy, repetitively for more than two to three hours at a stretch."

"PlayStation thumb," also referred to often as "Nintendo thumb," has taken the place of the "Rubik's Cube thumb," an injury caused by repetitive manipulation of the mechanical puzzle that was popular in the 1980s, said Subhash Dighe, a physiotherapist who owns Westend Physiotherapy in Hamilton, Ont.

Part of the problem is that many of today's computer games aren't designed to fit properly in small hands, Mr. Dighe said. Some manufacturers have recast their game controls to be more ergonomically correct, but this has produced an unwanted side effect; since the redesigned games feel more comfortable, children tend to play with them even longer than they used to, Mr. Dighe said.

It isn't just games that are fitting awkwardly in children's hands. Most keyboards and computer mice are also too big for them, said Alan Hedge, professor of ergonomics at Cornell University in New York.

And it doesn't help that when children use the computer, they're usually sitting in an adult-sized chair facing an adult-sized desk.

"The big issue for the home is that the computer tends to be shared between adults and children," Prof. Hedge said. "So it's set on adult-sized furniture and it's the kids who have to adapt."

Like adults, youngsters need to adopt the proper position and posture when using the computer, he said. And they need to take frequent breaks -- ideally once every 20 minutes -- where they get up for at least two minutes and stretch or walk.

Ryan Marcelo says he now interrupts his online game once each hour and spends 10 to 15 minutes doing something else, like going to the kitchen for a snack.

"My parents told me I had to take breaks, so that's why I do it," he said.

"And I guess also because it does help my eyes not feel so tired."

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Safety tips from the experts

Computers play an increasingly large role in our children's lives.

Here are expert tips to help your child use the computer safely:

Make your computer set-up ergonomically correct for your child.

This doesn't mean you have to buy new home office furniture, an impractical idea if you're sharing a computer with your children, says Margo Fraser, an ergonomist and executive director of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists. Instead, use pillows, boxes and phone books to adjust the height of the seat and monitor and to support your child's dangling feet.

Buy a laptop mouse. These are usually smaller than those designed for desktop PCs and will fit more easily into your child's hand, Ms. Fraser says.

Using a mouse platform that floats over the top of the numeric keypad will help prevent injury by keeping your child's arm in the proper position, she says; in a crunch, you could fashion such a mouse platform out of a shoebox.

Get to know your child's games. Understanding the rules and mechanics helps you set rules you can both live with, says Ann Douglas, author of The Mother of All Parenting Books. For instance, if you know your child's game character has to be taken to a safe haven before a game can be paused, then you can give a 10-minute warning instead of the usual, "Put the game on pause, NOW!"

Insist on frequent breaks.

Your child should be taking a break from the computer, ideally every 20 minutes and at the very least once every hour, the experts say. If your child forgets to take breaks, consider installing "break reminder" software that will sound an alert when it's time to take a rest.

Teach your child proper computing posture. It should be a "neutral" one that doesn't put strain on any parts of the body, says Alan Hedge, professor of ergonomics at Cornell University in New York. "When we teach a child to play the piano, we show him the proper posture for the piano, just as we do when we're teaching him tennis or any other sport," Prof. Hedge says. "But nobody's teaching children about proper posture and use of the computer, and that's a big mistake because those are lifelong skills that will protect them every day of their lives."