Giving a child a smartphone before age 13 could be risky for some aspects of their mental health.
In a new study of nearly 9,000 adolescents in the US, researchers found that owning a smartphone at age 12 was associated with a 36 percent higher chance of reporting any symptom of an eating disorder.
At this age, smartphone users reported a 61 percent higher prevalence of binge-eating symptoms than non-users.
Nearly 70 percent of 12-year-olds in the study owned a smartphone.
The findings were published in JAMA Network Open and support growing preliminary evidence that early and unsupervised smartphone ownership may be associated with downsides for mental health.
The research, led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), suggests that delaying smartphone access among children may be worth considering, given its links to disordered eating habits.
The results can’t prove that smartphones are causing eating disorder symptoms, but it’s possible that early and unsupervised access to social media could exacerbate body dissatisfaction in puberty.
That’s something parents should be aware of, the authors argue, and clinicians may want to consider screening for smartphone ownership and social media use when assessing eating disorder risks in teens.
“Eating disorders are serious, potentially life-threatening conditions that are nonetheless often preventable and responsive to early interventions,” write the authors, led by pediatrician Jason Nagata at UCSF.
“While major social media platforms enforce a minimum age of 13 years, this threshold can be easily circumvented, raising concerns about the feasibility of age-based protections.”
The analysis included health data from an ongoing longitudinal study of adolescents in the US.
At age 12, smartphone ownership was already linked to a variety of eating disorder symptoms.
Some of these associations were still apparent two years later.
By age 14, nearly a quarter of kids who had had a smartphone since age 12 reported at least one eating disorder symptom.
Compared to kids who didn’t have a smartphone at age 12, those who did were 103 percent more likely to report tying their self-worth to their weight.
They also faced 49 percent greater risk of reporting any eating disorder symptom by age 14.
“Owning a personal smartphone during early adolescence may be particularly consequential, given its potential to increase unsupervised and individualized exposure to digital environments during a sensitive developmental period,” write the study authors.
“These influences may also accumulate over time and be shaped by developmental timing.”
Just because a teen reports a symptom of an eating disorder doesn’t mean they necessarily have one.
This analysis only measured the self-reported symptoms of teens. It did not analyze how smartphone use impacts an actual clinical diagnosis.
An eating disorder is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior that significantly impairs physical health or psychosocial functioning.
Among young people, eating disorders are relatively common, impacting between 5.5 to 18 percent of young women, and up to 2.4 percent of young men by the time they reach early adulthood.
Recent increases in prevalence have been reported mainly among females aged 15 to 19.
Social media use allows for greater peer pressure than ever before, and idealized body content on social media is associated with an increased risk of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.
It’s possible that influencers and online ‘fitspiration’ content are exacerbating feelings of body dissatisfaction in young people and teaching them unhealthy eating habits.
One study, for instance, has shown that among adolescents, each additional hour of total screen time and social media use is associated with higher odds of behaviors to prevent weight gain and binge-eating symptoms.
“Our findings are notable given that early adolescence, when self-regulation is still maturing and sensitivity to social evaluation is heightened, coincides with puberty, which is a time of increased eating disorder risk,” explain the authors of the recent study.
Of course, the use of social media and smartphones doesn’t have to be harmful. Some research suggests it could even have mental health benefits for some teens, lsuch as lower levels of depression among those who text more.
How teens use digital devices may matter more for their mental health than how much time they spend on them.
The digital world we live in isn’t likely to go away any time soon, and it’s important to know at what age it is safe to give a child a smartphone and how to regulate their usage.
Studies like these get us closer to understanding the risks behind smartphone use. Only then can we figure out how to best protect the next generation.
The research has been published in JAMA Network Open.
This article was fact-checked by Rebecca Dyer and edited by Rebecca Dyer. While we pride ourselves on our process, we are only human. If you spot a mistake, please let us know.
