Mr Speaker: Dr Wan Rizal.
Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar): Mr Speaker, I thank the Minister for sharing on CAMH. I believe that this is a wonderful initiative, something that we have been waiting for, for some time. I have a number of supplementary questions, Mr Speaker. Is it okay if I go beyond the two?
Mr Speaker: Please ask all of them at one go and try to keep it succinct.
Dr Wan Rizal: Will do. Sir, my first supplementary question will be on the Family Nexus. There are Family Nexus sites already established. What considerations would the Ministry take into account when wanting to expand to other regions? I believe there are other regions which would also like to have these services. So, that is the first question.
The second question is about the usage of screen time. This is something that came up very strongly in the paper and there are only guidelines. Are there plans for the Ministry to consider making it into legislation, where we can limit the usage of these devices for children?
Sir, the third question I have is regarding the concerning rates of childhood obesity. Although we want to address obesity on its own, I remember back then that when we talked about obesity, a group of students in schools usually are sidelined. As we address this issue, I was wondering how we could better manage this situation so that we do not segregate this community too much where the children themselves are being targeted for being obese.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: When we designed the four Family Nexus centres, we considered a few models to try out. One model is like the one in our Tampines Hub, a community point where the community comes together naturally, regularly and makes a place where everyone is familiar with, but there are no medical facilities available, not like a polyclinic. We have another where it is actually a polyclinic and then we infused social services, so that if they come for medical attention, they can be referred to the social service agency. Another one is where the polyclinic has a small unit onsite together with the social service agency, which is a hybrid.
So, we are still looking at the various hybrids and the various configurations and then evaluate within, say, two years to see what best, how best and what suits where, in terms of the impact that we can provide for our mother and child dyad. But for now, what we are looking at is what is the density of the mother-child dyad like and that will be our priority on when we will roll this out, when the pilot is proven and chosen in terms of whether it is a hybrid type, community type or polyclinic type.
On screen time, it is a guideline right now. At the end of the day, to legislate something for the service providers is going to be really difficult because it is a complex issue involving both the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and MOH. And everywhere in the world, we are trying to address this issue and looking for solutions to them.
But we can put this control in the hands of our parents to understand the different kinds of screen time that they are exposing their children to, especially when they are very young. Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO), for example, talked about television (TV) time. In the very early years, a child may be watching TV, totally captured and enamoured by what is happening on TV, and we think, "Oh, the child is enjoying the show."
But what GUSTO has found is that it is stimulating the brain with lights. All the child is looking at is light. He does not understand what he is watching, and the stimulation on the brain is not good for the child. It is actually detrimental to the brain.
Therefore, when we look at other kinds of screen use, we have to understand whether it is for interactive purposes, which is recommended, but still must be regulated for different age groups; whether it is passive, where the child is watching and nobody is interacting; or, even worse still, in the background; where nobody is watching but it is in the background.
So, all these are kinds of screen device use which our parents must know about, more so because of social media and the ability of digital channels, like YouTube and so forth, so that we are aware about what we are exposing our children to and how their brains are developed and, in fact, even how their social behaviours are shaped. So, please read these guidelines. They are very well thought out and easy to use. We do not need regulations to get these things understood. We do not need lawyers to understand what they are. Just read them and they are very easy to use. Remember three things: need for interaction; avoid passive watching; and, worse still, do not have background screen use.
Finally, on obesity, I agree there are still many things we need to do and continue to do in addressing obesity in children. But a lot more effort ought to be done upstream. GUSTO studies also showed that there are things that we can do with our children that can prevent obesity setting in. For example, chewing time. Just getting children to chew more while they are growing up and not swallowing everything does affect obesity rate. Simple things that parents can do. Instead of us always trying to address the issues when they are in primary and secondary school, growing obese, actually there are things that we can do to address these issues as they are growing up.
That is why Family Nexus, the polyclinics, the interventions we are making with our mothers as they give birth to their children, other than lactation and so forth, these are important ideas, concepts, findings that we hope can help our children grow and develop their potential as much as possible by addressing and helping them far up and downstream as much as possible.
