Giving child phone before age of 13 could be dangerous: researchers

(Web Desk) - Giving a child a phone before the age of 13 could be dangerous, leading to worse sleep, obesity and even depression, according to a new study.

The study, published earlier this month in the American Academy of Pediatrics, tested the health implications of such devices on youngsters at the critical juncture between childhood and adolescence.

It comes after rising global concerns about the impact of technology and social media on children. Earlier this month, Australia became the first country to ban social media, including TikTok and Instagram, for children under 16.

The AAP study, led by Ran Barzilay, professor of psychiatry and a child-adolescent psychiatrist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, analyzed data from more than 10,500 kids across 21 sites in the U.S.

It found that those who received phones at age 12, compared with age 13, had a more than 60 percent higher risk of poor sleep and a more than 40 percent higher risk of obesity.

“At age 13 years, among 3,486 youth who did not own a smartphone at age 12 years, those who had acquired a smartphone in the past year had greater odds of reporting clinical-level psychopathology and insufficient sleep compared with those who had not after controlling for baseline mental health and sleep,” the study’s authors wrote.

The researchers concluded that owning a smartphone was associated with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence, and recommended the development of public policy to protect young people.