Children who wear face masks all the time see their marks go down 20%

This is a good example of a junk science article.

To make it seem scienc-y, the author quotes a Brown University study, but it's an unrelated study from 2011 that says nothing about oxygen levels in people wearing masks. The author also doesn't cite the article directly, meaning no one can go look it up to see what it actually says.

After that, the author uses arguments from the perspective of laymen, aka, not scientists, and uses the language of certainty, even though laymen cannot possibly make statements of truth when they are based on their non-professional personal speculations.

Finally, it quotes a doctor, although not on the question of whether people get less oxygen from wearing masks, which is the premise the entire argument is based on.

In other words, this article is attempting to sound authoritative, yet presents zero actual science to support the claim.

Meanwhile, medical professionals support mask-wearing for children over 6 - a contradiction to the premise of this article, that mask-wearing is harmful for children.

This raises question that, if there are any actual studies that support the author's view, then why didn't the author cite those?

Even if the author IS right, this article is still absolute junk - and JT never should have published it.

Making the baseless assumption that mask reduce in any meaningly way oxigen intake? check

Ignoring the myriad of other factors that were even mentioned in the beginning of the article? check

Pretending infants would only see masked people inside their own homes all day long? check

Making conclusions based on unsupported and false assumptions is invalid, as said on studies based on false premises "garbage in, garbage out". People that actually care and study about children's development would be extremely upset by reading this article, it cheapens and misrepresents their field of study as some kind of badly substantiated superstition.

Believable that masks are having a significant detrimental effect on oxygen intake, general communication and developing necessary socialization skills in school-aged children. Just wish such ‘translated & rewritten’ articles had quoted actual scientific sources as the basis for these observations and commentary.

Consider the sources of ‘news’ lately @girl-in-Tokyo 8:09am (Twitter, Weibo, etc). - Isn’t Josei7 one’s of those konbini-shelf, ‘women’s magazines specializing in celebrity gossip, horoscopes, etc ?

- @girl-in-Tokyo 8:09am: “This is a good example of a junk science article. 

To make it seem scienc-y, the author quotes a Brown University study, but it's an unrelated study from 2011 that says nothing … This raises question that, if there are any actual studies that support the author's view, then why didn't the author cite those? 

Even if the author IS right, this article is still absolute junk - and JT never should have published it.

Pranayama Breathing, Yogic Breathing, any breathing exercise can influence changes in the brane and help lessen stress in peoples lives. Constricting breathing and using masks is well a great protection against infection of the Corona Virus however wearing these masks for long periods of time especially during exercise can be harmful. Try doing full sprits or running at a brisk pace for a period of time and you will feel the restriction of the mask. This is why I do not use a mask when running or exercising outdoors.

However if the masks conditions have to continue in-definitely which I have no doubt that it will be many many years before Japan stops this restriction, but you can always be hopeful that it will stop the restriction in a proper timely way but probably not.

Here is what people can do to lessen the effects of masks:

Pranayama Breathing

Yoga and Yogic Breathing

Deep Breathing exercises and techniques.

These techniques should be done on a daily basis once a day. These techniques are difficult and should be taken slowly and in small steps at first. Look up these techniques online and practice them to improve your life.

A recent peer-reviewed article in entitled, 'Assessment of Respiratory Function in Infants and Young Children Wearing Face Masks During the COVID-19 Pandemic' in JAMA Network Open concluded, "This cohort study found that the use of surgical face masks among children was not associated with changes in respiratory function, including among children aged 24 months or younger." [Lubrano et al. JAMA Net Open. 2021; 4: e210414.]

However, another peer-reviewed article from the same research group has suggested that N95 masks may decrease oxygen levels in children. The paper entitled, 'Effects of N95 Mask Use on Pulmonary Function in Children' published in the Journal of Pediatrics concluded, "The use of an N95 mask could potentially cause breathing difficulties in children if the mask does not have an exhalation valve, particularly during a physical activity. We believe that wearing a surgical mask may be more appropriate for children." [Lubrano et al. J Pediatr. 2021; 237: 143-147.]

Take away message: surgical masks are likely fine for children, but we may wish to refrain using N95 masks for them...which I think most parents aren't doing anyway. ;)

Amazing statement of fact that is finally printed openly in the news.

So of course you can prove this with objective data that demonstrate significantly lower levels of oxigen while masked, right? else this is would have absolutely no importance.

My first thought was "WTF is Josei 7?". So, I decided to check.

It's some crap gossip magazine. Typical articles:

"Beijing Olympics Handsome Athlete Encyclopedia"

"Shuzo Matsuoka "My Rule Breaking" Hands-on "Confession" Date with My Wife"

Just the kind of publication the web "researchers" would consider "research".

Just wish such ‘translated & rewritten’ articles had quoted actual scientific sources as the basis for these observations and commentary.

Could it be because there isn't any scientific basis for these claims?

It will be very interesting these experts interpretation on the side effect (emotional and psychological) impact it leaves on these children.

Do they slow child development? A growing body of evidence suggests they might, says Josei 7 (Feb 10).

Any layman might suspect as much. The brain needs oxygen. Masked, we get less. It’s not a large leap from there to an alarming suspicion.

Does regular exercise and healthy eating literally kill you? A growing body of evidence suggests they might, says Josei 7.

Any layman might suspect as much. Everyone who has ever eaten healthily and done regular exercise has died or will die. It’s not a large leap from there to an alarming suspicion.

I'm so glad I taught my kids to despise masks, they only wear them when forced by their school, juku or airlines, everywhere else I let them breathe freely, including shops.

I'm so glad I taught my kids to despise masks, they only wear them when forced by their school, juku or airlines, everywhere else I let them breathe freely, including shops.

I am not glad that you are endangering your children.

Very simple reason for why marks are down; masks are a distraction similar to a hat, hoodie, or fidget spinner. Since we a monitoring 13 years of education (ages 5 to 18) we are going to see younger students be more distracted with items that will factor into testing. At the higher grades, we have to deal with the unpredictability of schedules.

I am not glad that you are endangering your children.

I thought masks protected others from infection not the wearer, if that's the case, in which case are they getting endangered? I've seen a lot of maskless children around during the 'rona time and nobody apart from JT readers seem to care about it.

It cites a long-term study by scientists at Brown University in the U.S. Researchers have since 2011 been testing levels of awareness in children aged 3 months to 3 years.

I'm assuming this is the study described at the link below. If so, it has nothing to do with children wearing masks. (Except perhaps for masks worn by the researchers when facing the children. Apparently the researchers wore plastic protection visors so the children could see their facial expressions.)

https://www.golocalprov.com/news/children-born-during-pandemic-have-reduced-cognitive-skills-says-new-study

People have been warning about this from the beginning.

Mask mandates are causing lifelong irreversible damage to children.

Let our children breathe!

In 10 years when the data comes back we will see how stupid we were to allow our leaders to do this to our kids. The repercussions are now bearing fruit of that massive mistake.

I thought masks protected others from infection not the wearer, if that's the case, in which case are they getting endangered?

They do both.

bronco:

Let our children breathe!

Is it something to do with breathing in one's own carbon dioxide?

Has the pandemic gone on for more than 10 years? Cause that's the year the study quoted was done. And it was about oxygen, not masks, how the author made that leap was purely unscientific.

School buildings must be fitted with oxygen supply lines to every desk in every classroom. Students will wear masks with an adapter hose to connect to the oxygen supply.

With high concentration of oxygen, brains will be turbocharged and students will learn more faster than ever before.

Utterly ridiculous misinformation.

I thought masks protected others from infection not the wearer, if that's the case, in which case are they getting endangered?

Your belief is mistaken, masks reduce the risk both ways, as anybody that pays attention well knows by this point.

In 10 years when the data comes back we will see how stupid we were to allow our leaders to do this to our kids.

So, if the evidence at this point contradicts you the excuse is that in 10 years it will not? that makes no sense, why do you automatically assume COVID will suddenly stop being related to a new risk (including for children) every week or so like right now? it is astronomically more likely that the opposite of your prediction becomes true and the professionals ask why not more was done to protect children even when the acute infection was apparently safe?

Any layman might suspect as much. The brain needs oxygen. Masked, we get less. It’s not a large leap from there to an alarming suspicion.

That's...not what happens. Who in their right mind thinks the brain is being deprived of oxygen if you wear a mask. There's functionally no impact on your O2 stats from masking, you would notice a bigger impact from being at a higher elevation. Or does the author think you should only raise children at sea level too?

The only possibly development issue I could see is the challenges posed for lip-reading in deaf language learners. There's solutions for that already as well of course.

In England, mask use is being phased out.

After freezing kids for winter with open windows, Scotland now plans to saw the bottoms off the doors of classrooms to increase ventilation. I'm not making this up. Unfortunately, some of the doors are supposed to act as fire breaks and there are noise issues.

Once you get a really good through draught from the open window to what remains of the door in mid-winter, the kids will be too cold to do any learning.

"Children who wear face masks all the time see their marks go down 20%". An unsupported generalization and pure nonsense. People who read only newspaper titles will be grossly misled.

This would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

There is no proof that typical medical mask wearing reduces the oxygen levels of the blood. Blood O2 levels is what matters.

For those that wish to find more research on mask usage, this site has amassed more than 400 studies and physician panel recommendations grouped by mandate. There about 70 on masks alone: https://brownstone.org/articles/more-than-400-studies-on-the-failure-of-compulsory-covid-interventions/

For those that continue to push for lockdowns and mandates - you must answer for the lasting effects on the population, such as the recent surge in suicide rates. That and all the other effects from pointless lockdowns and mandates (several more studies) that will impact the world going forward, that's on you.

Moreover, masks were introduced without basis in science. Where are your studies that show their effectiveness -- specifically with covid-like diseases and used by children? It is like someone mandating wearing woolen hats. It might sound sensible but many things have sounded sensible yet found to be worthless and in this case downright harmful.