By Gavin Boyle
A new study found that kids who engage in higher rates of physical activity and had a lower average screen time reported lower rates of depression by the age of 15.
“For parents, I would say that they should balance their kids’ behaviors between active play and screen time,” study author Eero A. Haapala told Psy Post. “Some screen time won’t harm if other aspects of life, such as seeing friends, free play, and developing self-esteem through sports are in balance. It is good to remember that if a kid has two hours of screen time daily, it adds up to almost one month per year — it always replaces something.”
This study builds on a plethora of previous research which has similarly documented the negative impact screen time has on kids. This study, however, takes things a step further by showing how these effects are also cumulative, causing a long-lasting impact, rather than something easily reversed.
The study also highlights how the depression and anxiety that comes with screen time affects people of all ages, even when that screen time is not necessarily coming with social media use. In 2023, Canadian researchers found similar results when they conducted a study with school aged children following the massive increase in screen time during the pandemic. The researchers found that the nearly six hours of daily screen time children experienced during those years caused anxiety rates to skyrocket, affecting more than 20% of all kids.
Related: Surgeon General Recommends Warning Labels for Social Media
Studies like these have made the link between technology use and higher rates of depression and anxiety impossible to deny, which caused the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, to issue a call for a surgeon general’s warning to be placed on social media last summer.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in a June 2024 New York Times piece. “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours. Additionally, nearly half of all adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.”
Lawmakers have responded heavily to this recommendation, with many state legislatures now working to draft bills that would regulate how addictive the technology can be that kids have access to. At the same time, parents should do everything they can to encourage active lifestyles for their kids and help them combat the mental health crisis ravaging our country.
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