New research suggests a grim consequence of giving smartphones to minors before they even hit their teen years.
By analyzing an existing survey of thousands of children and teenagers in the US, the researchers found that kids who owned a smartphone by the time they were 12 years old were more likely to develop eating disorders compared to kids who didn’t own one, they reported in a new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Beyond the devices themselves, the findings are the latest to illustrate the perils of being exposed to social media at such a formative part of a child’s life.
“A smartphone can put a world of appearance-focused content in a young person’s pocket,” exposing them to images and messages that may foster unhealthy eating behaviors, lead author Jason Nagata, an adolescent medicine specialist at the University of California San Francisco, told CNN. “It’s important for parents to be aware that getting a smartphone isn’t just about the device. It can change a child’s access to different content and exposures in the digital world.”
