ABC News - Children who have smartphones by age 12 are at higher risk of lack of sleep, obesity and depression, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
What's more, researchers found that the earlier a child received a smartphone, the greater their risk of developing these conditions.
Dr. Ran Barzilay, lead author of the study and a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told ABC News that many experts suggest parents should postpone the age at which children receive their first smartphone.
Barzilay said he and his colleagues wanted to examine whether not delaying smartphone use by children would lead to negative health outcomes. He also had a personal motivation behind the study.
"I have a nine-year-old who wants a phone, and I think [whether to get them a smartphone] is a question that is relevant for every parent of a kid going into adolescence, even before adolescence," said Barzilay, who's also an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The study team – comprised of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania; University of California, Berkeley; and Columbia University – looked at data from more than 10,500 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which is an ongoing study assessing brain development in children throughout adolescence.
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