You look around and you'll see that most children have a phone in their hands. Now, a new study has raised questions about how early children should get their own smartphones. Researchers found that adolescents who owned a smartphone at age 12 were more likely to report eating disorder symptoms by age 14. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, analysed data from 8,957 US adolescents and linked it to binge eating, unhealthy attempts to prevent weight gain and placing self-worth on body weight.

The findings of the study are important because early adolescence is a sensitive period for body image. Children between 10 and 14 go through puberty and become more aware of how they look and how peers view them. A personal smartphone can also give them access to social media, with posts that are focused on appearance and dieting or fitness. However, the researchers stressed that the study shows an association, and not proof that smartphones cause eating disorders.

What Did The Study Find?

Researchers used information from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a large long-term study tracking children's brain development and health. The analysis included 8,957 adolescents, of whom nearly 70% owned a smartphone at age 12. Researchers then looked at eating disorder symptoms reported at ages 12 and 14.

By age 14, smartphone ownership at age 12 was linked to a 67% higher risk of binge-eating symptoms. It was also associated with a 50% higher chance of inappropriate compensatory behaviours, such as unhealthy actions intended to prevent weight gain. Smartphone owners were about twice as likely to report that their self-worth was connected to their weight. Overall, they had a 49% higher risk of reporting at least one eating disorder symptom.

Among smartphone owners, 24.2% reported at least one eating disorder symptom at age 14, compared with 15.5% among those who did not own a smartphone at age 12. The study also found that the relationship between smartphone ownership and worry about weight gain differed by sex. The study found a significant link among girls.

Why Early Smartphone Access Matters?

One possible explanation is the type of content children can encounter through smartphones. Social media feeds can expose young people to images of particular body types, dieting trends, intense exercise routines and messages that connect appearance with popularity or self-worth. Some content may also appear to be about health or wellness while promoting restrictive eating or unhealthy weight-control practices. Repeated exposure to such messages may affect how children view their own bodies and eating habits.

Puberty naturally changes the body, and children may become more sensitive to comments from friends and what they see online. Smartphones can make this exposure continuous rather than limited.

What Can Parents Do?

The study does not establish a specific age at which every child should receive a smartphone. Instead, parents can consider the child's maturity, needs and ability to handle online content. If a child has a smartphone, parents can set clear boundaries around its use. This can include keeping phones away during meals and at bedtime, using parental controls and discussing what children see online.

Parents can also talk openly about body image and explain that social media pictures may be edited, carefully selected or designed to get attention. Children should know that there is no single body type they need to achieve. Parents should also watch for changes in eating habits or attitudes towards weight. Skipping meals, becoming unusually fearful of weight gain, frequent dieting, binge eating, exercising excessively or becoming very focused on body shape can be warning signs that deserve attention.

The researchers caution that more research is needed to understand why smartphone ownership is linked with eating disorder symptoms. The study was observational, meaning it cannot prove that owning a smartphone caused the later symptoms. Differences in social media use, family, mental health and other factors could contribute to the link.

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