A new study suggests that children who have a smartphone before they are 12 years old have an increased risk of having various health issues, such as depression and obesity.
Researchers found that these children also get insufficient sleep compared to other kids whose parents held off on giving them smartphones. They analyzed data from more than 10,500 children who participated in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD).
Smartphone Use's Effects on Children
The study is the largest long-term look at kids' brain development in the United States. It found that the younger the children were under 12 years when they received their first smartphones, the greater risk of obesity and poor sleep they were exposed to.
The researchers also focused on a subset of children who did not receive a smartphone by age 12. They found that, a year later, those who got the devices had more harmful mental health symptoms and worse sleep compared to those who did not, according to the New York Times.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Ran Barzilay, said that when parents give their children a smartphone, they need to think of it as something that is significant for their kids' health, and behave accordingly.
The study showed an association between getting a smartphone early in adolescence and poor health conditions, but it was not a cause-and-effect situation. The researchers emphasized that previous studies found that children who have smartphones spend less time socializing with other people, exercising, and sleeping.
Negative Health Outcomes
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which was used as a reference, was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The researchers in the latest study came from the Children's Hospital Philadelphia, the University of California at Berkeley, and Columbia University, CBS News reported.
Barzilay said that they did not even look at what the children did on the smartphones that they got. He added that they only asked one simple question, which was, "Does the mere factor of having one's own smartphone at this age range have anything to do with health outcomes?"
The lead author said they wanted to examine whether or not delaying smartphone use by children would result in negative health outcomes. Furthermore, Barzilay had a personal motivation behind the study.
He said he has a nine-year-old who wanted a phone, and he thought that the question of whether or not to give them was relevant for every parent of a child who is going into adolescence, as per ABC News.
