Children given a smartphone before the age of 12 are at higher risk for depression, obesity and insufficient sleep, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.
“The important finding is that kids who got smartphones earlier exercised less, slept less and socialized in person less, and that’s what led to the obesity and mental health problems,” said Claudia Allen, director of the University of Virginia’s Family Stress Clinic.
“It’s simply a fact that kids that age, I’m thinking middle schoolers primarily, cannot – underscore – cannot be healthy without adequate sleep and exercise,” she said. “Those are crucial building blocks during the middle school years.”
Lack of sleep impacts both physical and brain development in children. “Without that, they cannot concentrate as well in school, they cannot regulate their emotions as well, and therefore they don’t learn as much as they need to learn, and they sometimes have more poor interpersonal relationships,” Allen said.
The clinical psychologist highlighted the perils of a lack of in-person interaction, saying it’s not only important for kids’ current mental health, but for the future. She said the effects of isolation during COVID illustrate how less in-person contact can diminish children’s social skills and mental health.
“Middle school kids are learning how to have relationships. They’re learning how to navigate conflict, how to meet new people, how to relate to people who are different from them,” Allen said. “If kids are on their smartphones all the time and not interacting in person, they don’t adequately learn those skills, and that puts them behind, and handicapped really, for their whole lives.”
Some good news and advice
Allen noted the study, led by Dr. Ran Barzilay of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and representing the nation’s largest and longest-term look at children’s brain development, found no increased risk of encountering inappropriate content or dangerous individuals.
It’s right to be concerned about those things, but the study reveals other issues as well, she said.
“This study points out a whole different problem. It’s what kids are not doing when they’re on their phones that’s a problem in this study,” she said. “They’re not riding a bike or playing basketball, and they’re not getting the nine to 10 hours of sleep that they need.”
