The Impact Smartphones Have on Youth - Physical Health
By Khalil Wilson
The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about the effects of smartphones on the youth usually has something to do with the mental impacts, but the physical implications that result from mass smartphone and social media use is imperative to add to the discussion.
It seems that instead of spending time outside and having in person interactions, a lot of teens use social media to stay in contact with friends and family members. This fact alone speaks to the fact that teens are doing less exercising and spending much more time on the internet. Again, this idea does not generalize to the entire youth population, but its affects are definitely observed in numbers.
Building off the idea of the mental impacts from smartphone use, self-harm is a common occurrence in teenagers. A review even showed data that youth use different social media platforms to view and discuss self-harm. Interacting with other youth online that also self-harm normalizes the behavior. Another review found that youth who report high levels of internet use are more likely to harm themselves. Besides that, sleeping patterns are also effected by cell phone use. In fact, researchers found that just the mere presence of a cell phone within the room is associated with taking a longer time to fall asleep, and reduced levels of alertness throughout the day.
Physical health is more than just what we consume and put into our bodies. It entails everything from how we choose to spend our time, how often we exercise and even the amount of hours we spend on our on smartphones.
The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about the effects of smartphones on the youth usually has something to do with the mental impacts, but the physical implications that result from mass smartphone and social media use is imperative to add to the discussion.
It seems that instead of spending time outside and having in person interactions, a lot of teens use social media to stay in contact with friends and family members. This fact alone speaks to the fact that teens are doing less exercising and spending much more time on the internet. Again, this idea does not generalize to the entire youth population, but its affects are definitely observed in numbers.
Building off the idea of the mental impacts from smartphone use, self-harm is a common occurrence in teenagers. A review even showed data that youth use different social media platforms to view and discuss self-harm. Interacting with other youth online that also self-harm normalizes the behavior. Another review found that youth who report high levels of internet use are more likely to harm themselves. Besides that, sleeping patterns are also effected by cell phone use. In fact, researchers found that just the mere presence of a cell phone within the room is associated with taking a longer time to fall asleep, and reduced levels of alertness throughout the day.
Physical health is more than just what we consume and put into our bodies. It entails everything from how we choose to spend our time, how often we exercise and even the amount of hours we spend on our on smartphones.
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