{"id":2516243,"date":"2025-12-01T16:54:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T21:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-study-shows-alarming-health-issues-linked-to-owning-a-smartphone-before-age-12\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T16:56:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T21:56:01","slug":"new-study-shows-alarming-health-issues-linked-to-owning-a-smartphone-before-age-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-study-shows-alarming-health-issues-linked-to-owning-a-smartphone-before-age-12\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study Shows Alarming Health Issues Linked to Owning a Smartphone Before Age 12"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-study-shows-alarming-health-issues-linked-to-owning-a-smartphone-before-age-12%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2516243&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/study-shows-vaccine-lotteries-may-be-ineffective\/\" title=\"... shows vaccine lotteries may be ineffective\">recent study published<\/a> in the journal *Pediatrics* found that owning a smartphone by age 12 is linked to increased risks of depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence. Using data from over 10,500 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, researchers showed that children with smartphones at age 12 were more likely to experience these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/study-shows-kids-on-team-sports-have-better-mental-health\/\" title=\"... Shows ...s On Team Sports Have Better Mental ...\">health issues compared<\/a> to those without.Additionally, those who did not have smartphones by age 13 fared better health-wise than those who acquired them earlier. The study emphasizes the importance of caregivers recognizing the significant impact smartphones can have on young children&#8217;s health and suggests that smartphone use guidelines and public policies may be needed to protect youth. While the study does not prove causation, it highlights how excessive smartphone use can lead to unhealthy habits that contribute to these problems.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Those of us who grew up before the digital age have many reasons to remember those years with fondness.<\/p>\n<p>Now, a team of researchers has given us one more reason.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Smartphone Ownership, Age of Smartphone Acquisition, and Health Outcomes in Early Adolescence,&rdquo; a <a href=\"https:\/\/publications.aap.org\/pediatrics\/article-abstract\/doi\/10.1542\/peds.2025-072941\/205716\/Smartphone-Ownership-Age-of-Smartphone-Acquisition?redirectedFrom=fulltext?autologincheck=redirected\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> published Monday in the journal &ldquo;Pediatrics,&rdquo; linked smartphone ownership by age 12 to subsequent problems with &ldquo;depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A robust sample of &ldquo;10,588 participants from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study&rdquo; provided the data.<\/p>\n<p>Compared to participants who did not own a smartphone at age 12, those who did own a smartphone at <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >age 12 showed increased risk<\/a> of both depression and insufficient sleep. Risk of obesity entered the equation for younger smartphone owners.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Moreover, those who still did not own a smartphone by age 13 showed better health outcomes than did 13-year-olds who had acquired a smartphone in the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Smartphone ownership was associated with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence,&rdquo; the study&rsquo;s abstract concluded. &ldquo;Findings provide critical and timely insights that should inform caregivers regarding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/10-tips-to-keep-smartphones-from-making-your-kids-miserable\/\" title=\"10 Tips To Keep ...s From Making Your ...s Miserable\">adolescent smartphone<\/a> use and, ideally, the development of public policy that protects youth.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The point about informing caregivers seems most critical.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Dr. Ran Barzilay, the study&rsquo;s lead author and a child and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-do-gender-transitions-impact-children-heres-what-the-science-says\/\" title=\"How Do Gender Transitions Impact ...? Here\u2019s What The Science Says\">adolescent psychiatrist<\/a> at Children&rsquo;s Hospital of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/philadelphias-soros-backed-da-downgrades-murder-charge-broad-daylight-execution-woman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Philadelphia<\/a>, certainly framed it that way.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When you give your kid a phone, you need to think of it as something that is significant for the kid&rsquo;s health &mdash; and behave accordingly,&rdquo; Barzilay said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/01\/well\/family\/early-smartphone-ownership-study.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, Barzilay noted that smartphones had an effect on pre-teens that they might not have in later years.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A kid at age 12 is very, very different than a kid at age 16,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like an adult at age 42 versus 46.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the new study merely identified a link between smartphones and health problems in children 12 or younger. It did not &mdash; indeed, it could not &mdash; prove causation.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, it stands to reason that some kind of causation exists.<\/p>\n<p>As far as anyone knows, the phones themselves do not cause depression, obesity, or lack of sleep. After all, find any healthy, fit, and well-rested 13-year-old, and you could guess that he or she has probably still had regular access to a smartphone in the past year.<\/p>\n<p>Problems begin when the smartphone consumes the child&rsquo;s attention. In that sense, therefore, a smartphone, like any distraction from healthy behavior, threatens children with terrible habits. And those habits, rather than the phone itself, lead to the aforementioned health issues.<\/p>\n<p>Thank goodness those of us who grew up without smartphones never had to worry about such things.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is a paraphrased version of the provided text excerpt:<\/p>\n<p>Many people who grew up before smartphones and digital technology look back on those times with nostalgia. Now, new research offers an additional reason to appreciate that era. A study titled &#8220;Smartphone Ownership, Age of Smartphone Acquisition, and Health Outcomes in Early Adolescence,&#8221; published recently in the journal *Pediatrics*, found a connection between owning a smartphone by age 12 and later issues such as depression, obesity, and poor sleep. The study analyzed data from over 10,500 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. It showed that children who had smartphones at age 12 were more likely to experience depression and insufficient sleep compared to those without phones at that age; obesity risk was higher among younger smartphone owners.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, adolescents who did not have smartphones by age 13 tended to have better health outcomes than peers who got phones earlier. The study&#8217;s authors emphasized that these findings should guide parents and policymakers in managing youth smartphone use responsibly.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ran Barzilay, lead author and child psychiatrist at Children&#8217;s Hospital of Philadelphia, highlighted the importance of recognizing how significant phone ownership can be for a child&#8217;s health-especially since pre-teens are affected differently than older teens or adults.<\/p>\n<p>While this research identifies associations rather than direct cause-and-effect relationships between smartphones and health problems in young adolescents, it suggests that excessive phone use may contribute indirectly by distracting children from healthy habits like adequate sleep or physical activity.<\/p>\n<p>In short: growing up without smartphones spared previous generations from these concerns about mental health and well-being linked to early phone use<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2516244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Boy-on-smartphone.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4294,68026,4964,26750,4866],"class_list":["post-2516243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-children","tag-early-use","tag-health","tag-smartphones","tag-study"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Boy-on-smartphone.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516243"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2516247,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516243\/revisions\/2516247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2516244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}