Britons scroll more than the length of the Eiffel Tower on their smartphones every month

Science
By William

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Give your thumb a break! Britons scroll more than the length of the Eiffel Tower on their smartphones every month, research shows

  • The average Brit clocks an average of 519 centimeters of scrolling per day
  • Half of us suffer some form of physical pain as a result of our phone use

By Jim Norton For Mailonline

published: | Updated:

Britons scroll more than the height of the Eiffel Tower on their mobile phones every month, a study has found.

Hours glued to our screens saw the average person clocking an average of 519 inches per day — or 1,361 feet per month.

More than half of respondents said it had caused some form of physical pain, with eye strain and ‘text claw’ – hand and wrist cramps’ – the most common.

The poll of 2,000 Brits by Uswitch.com found that one in ten people spend more than five hours on their mobile every day – which equates to 75 days a year.

More than a quarter of respondents said they used it for more than three hours a day.

Britons scroll more than the height of the Eiffel Tower on their mobile phones every month, a study finds (stock image)

Hours glued to our screens saw the average person clocking an average of 519 inches per day — or 1,361 feet per month

Hours glued to our screens saw the average person clocking an average of 519 inches per day — or 1,361 feet per month

Most common phone-related injuries

  1. Tired eyes
  2. Text claw (hand and wrist spasm after phone use)
  3. Repetitive Strain Injury
  4. Dry eyes
  5. Headache
  6. Mobile phone elbow (tingling or numbness in fingers)

The distance estimate was based on a standard phone allowing scrollable distance of just under four inches at a time and the average amount of time Britons look at their phones.

According to Ofcom, this is two hours and 55 minutes a day.

Researchers then used a variety of other measurements, such as how many words we can read in a minute — about 250 — and average font size, to work out how much we flip through our phones each day.

Overall, the total distance scrolled was found to be 519.3 inches per day – which equates to three miles per year.

This has caused injuries to many – with eyestrain and text claw affecting about one in five people.

Other overuse symptoms included dry eyes, headaches, and “cell phone elbow,” where the user experiences tingling or numbness in the fingers.

One in three participants in the study agreed that mobile phones have a negative impact on their health.

The most common symptoms were more anxious, less productive and more difficult to sleep.

Uswitch mobile expert Ray Ali said mobile users can use time-tracking apps, such as “Social Fever” or “OFFTime,” to limit their phone activity.

To protect their eyes, he suggested putting a matte screen protector on the phone, wearing blue light glasses, or setting the phone to “Dark Mode” in settings to reduce brightness.

HOW SERIOUS IS SMARTPHONE ADDICTION?

With the average age of a child getting their first phone just 10 years old, young people are becoming increasingly dependent on their smartphones.

Worrying research from the University of Korea suggests that this reliance on the technology could even affect the brains of some teens.

The findings show that teens who are addicted to their smartphones are more likely to suffer from mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety.

Other studies have shown that people are so dependent on their smartphones that they like to break social etiquette to use them.

Researchers from mobile connectivity company iPass surveyed more than 1,700 people in the US and Europe about their connectivity habits, preferences and expectations.

The survey revealed some of the most inappropriate situations in which people have felt the need to check their phones – during sex (seven percent), on the toilet (72 percent), and even at a funeral (11 percent).

Nearly two-thirds of people said they felt anxious if they weren’t connected to Wi-Fi, and many said they’d give up a range of items and activities in exchange for a connection.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said Wi-Fi was impossible to give up — more than for sex (58 percent), junk food (42 percent), smoking (41 percent), alcohol (33 percent), or drugs (31 percent).

In fact, a quarter of respondents said they preferred Wi-Fi to a bath or shower, and 19 percent said they preferred Wi-Fi to human contact.

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