Health Effects of Smart Addiction Among the Teenagers

This article discusses the health effects of smartphone addiction among teenagers, including sleep deprivation, mobility challenges, brain issues, eye straining, and loss of hearing. It also provides empirical evidence to support the claims.

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Health Effects of Smart Addiction Among the Teenagers
Another health effect of smartphone addiction among the teenagers is its effect on the
teenager’s sleep. Everybody knows the significance and importance of sleep for the human body
and mind, yet growing teenagers particularly benefit from a quality and best nights rest. Even
though teens might argue with us on this issue, empirical studies recommend that children should
sleep between nine hours and eleven hours of sleep every day. However, about 16% of the
teenagers usually meet this important requirement (Odgers). Technology as well as smartphone
are the major factors in this worrying trend. The screens glow normally affects human beings’
biorhythms that cause restless sleep as well as insomnia. Smartphone technology also affects
human sleep with the continuous connectivity and the messages which are sent throughout the
night Heid (44). Thus, it is normally hard for a child to get a good night rest when they are awake
reading and sending texts every three to four hours.
Whether and to what extent emissions from the smartphones are altering teenagers’ sleep,
cognitive performance as well as function of the brain, there are empirical research linking how
the presence of smartphones among the teenagers are affecting their sleeping as well as waking
performance. For instance, a study that was conducted in Singapore reported most of the students
who were queried stated that they normally have poor sleep due to the use of tablet or

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smartphone. This report aligns itself with other empirical research studies which have found out
that smartphones wreak havoc the teenagers sleep (Teensafe).
Another health effect of smartphone addiction in teenagers is the mobility challenges due
to the excessive use of smartphones. We normally link arthritis or bad backs with people who are
old or older people who are in the sports industry and have had long term injuries Kim et al (8).
However, there are empirical reports stating that there has been a rise in spine as well as back
problems and pains linked with the posture teenagers use while using their smartphones. For
instance, a lot of texting using smartphone has led to condition known as text claw which is term
used in describing soreness of fingers as well as wrists from too much texting. This condition has
been reported to be increasing while another condition known as cellphone elbow, a cubital
tunnel health sign which is one of the common problems of nerve compression (Lin et al (6).
These should be noted that there is a very physical as well as real illness that can be exacerbated
by the use of smartphones. The effect on mobility by the teenagers can not only affect their
physical wellbeing but also their academic progress as most of them will not attend their classes
due to the excruciating pain that they are encountering.
Prolonged use of smartphone can lead to brain issues like brain cancer due to the
electromagnetic radiation. There has been a discussion concerning cell phone use and radiation
exposure. Currently, scientists have discovered that individuals who use smartphones for
prolonged years exacerbate their chances of suffering from cancer of the brain Kwon et al (5).
The study has also found out that teenagers who started using smartphones early enough are five
times likely to suffer a particular disease. Therefore, it is important for the teens to take much
precaution when using speakers or the headsets of the smartphone and follow strictly the
recommendations which are provided for using the device.

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Continuous staring of the smartphone by the teenagers causes eye straining which
normally prompts them to seek for medical checkup by the opticians. This is according to the
recent huffpost by Breus. This is normally obvious due to the long hours taken by the teenagers
focusing on the smartphone screen or the continuous playing games as well as texting. The
electromagnetic radiation from most of the smartphones cause premature cataracts among the
youths. This was captured on the report of commission on non-ionizing radiation protection in
1988. For the teenagers who are school going, texting as well as chatting for prolonged duration
especially during breaks between their classes led to such teenagers not giving taking their lunch
which further affected their appetite. This can be observed in their homes when they indulge in
phone conversation and chatting when meals are ready. According to Davey and Anuradha
(1500), the lack of eating due to phone addiction can lead to poor physical and physiological
wellbeing of the teenagers. This is dangerous for their growth and development as they rely
much on their foods for development. Another effect of smartphone addiction is the loss of
hearing especially when they put loud music through speakers or headsets. It is therefore
advisable for the teenagers not to put loud music when using the cellphone.

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Work Cited
Breus, Michael., J. Examining The Effects Of Mobile Phones On Kids And Teens. Novermber 27,
2016. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/examining-the-effects-of-mobile-
phones-on-kids-and-teens_b_8633658
Davey, Sanjeev., and Anuradha, Davey. “Assessment of Smartphone Addiction in Indian
Adolescents: A Mixed Method Study by Systematic-Review and Meta-Analysis
Approach.” International Journal of Preventive Medicine, vol. 5, no. 12, Dec. 2014, pp.
1500–1511.
Heid, Markham. “We Need to Talk About Kids and Smartphones.” Time, vol. 190, no. 19, Nov.
2017, pp. 42–46.
Kim, Hye-Jin, Jin-Young Min, Kyoung-Bok Min, Tae-Jin Lee, and Seunghyun Yoo
“Relationship among Family Environment, Self-Control, Friendship Quality, and
Adolescents’ Smartphone Addiction in South Korea: Findings from Nationwide
Data.” PLoS ONE, vol. 13, no. 2, Feb. 2018, pp. 1–13.
Kwon, Min, Dai-Jin Kim, Hyun Cho, and Soo Yang “The Smartphone Addiction Scale:
Development and Validation of a Short Version for Adolescents.” PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no.
12, Dec. 2013, pp. 1–7.
Lin, Yu-Hsuan, Chih-Lin Chiang, Po-Hsien Lin, Li-Ren Chang, Chih-Hung Ko, Yang-Han Lee,
and Sheng-Hsuan Lin. “Proposed Diagnostic Criteria for Smartphone Addiction.” PLoS
ONE, vol. 11, no. 11, Nov. 2016, pp. 1–11

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Odgers, Candice. Smartphones are bad for some teens, not all. February 21, 2018. Retrieved
from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02109-8
Teensafe. How does smartphone addiction affect teen health? June 16, 2015. Retrieved from
https://www.teensafe.com/blog/smartphone-addiction-effect-teen-health/