By Sodiq Ojuroungbe
Excessive use of smartphones by children and teens could negatively affect their brain development and learning, physicians have warned.
The health experts stated that children who spend more time on smartphones have poorer academic performance and lower intelligence quotient than those who use smartphones less frequently.
According to the experts, children’s brains are not fully developed, and excessive exposure to screens, especially smartphones, can interfere with that development.
Child and mental health experts noted that smartphones are particularly harmful because they keep users constantly stimulated and distracted, making it difficult for children to learn.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children under the age of 18 should only use smartphones for no more than two hours a day and that parents should establish rules and limits around smartphone use.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise, the physicians explained that excessive use of smartphones by children could lead to cognitive problems, including difficulty with attention and memory.
The Chief Physiotherapist at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Dr. Feminiyi Apata, said brain development and taxing of the brain to sharpen its processing abilities are important in the early stages of life for children.
He, however, said the excessive use of smartphones by children may slow down the processing speed, especially when the devices are used for other purposes other than learning.
Apata, who specialised in Neuro Paediatric Physiotherapy, noted that when smartphones are being used for a long time consistently, it may take away the attention of the child from other taxing habits like reading, and IQ reasoning which in turn makes the brain lazy.
He added, “The early stages of life are so crucial in children, the brain developing as they are growing in life and the taxing of the brain is so important to sharpen its processing abilities. Therefore, smartphones may slow down the processing speed depending on how the smartphones are being used by the child.
“If the child is using the smartphone to play brain-taxing games, it may help but if it is to watch movies and social media it is bad for brain development. The part of the brain for skill and learning is the frontal lobe of the cerebrum.
“When smartphones are being used for a long time consistently, it can change the children’s behaviour by slowing down their response to stimuli from other things in their environment as long as it is not a smartphone. Just like people that play a certain game on PlayStation, most of them tend not to show interest in other forms of computer games.”
While stressing that smartphones do not change the structure or functioning of children’s brains, the physician said excessive use could affect the ability to focus in some children.
According to him, it can affect the ability to focus in some children with no underlying condition by taking away their interest and focus on using smartphones more than anything else. Such a child, whenever they see a phone, they immediately drop whatever they are doing and turn to their smartphone.
“Using smartphones has also been used in managing a condition like attention deficit hyperactive disorder. In this kind of children, they don’t pay attention to anything and are very hyperactive. Smartphones can be used to capture their interest and attention to train focus in them,” he added.
On how to regulate the use of smartphones by children, Apata said, “Parents need to regulate the time their children spend on a smartphone
“They should also ensure their children use the smartphone to play games that involve mental challenge activities like building blocks and other brain-tasking games.
“They should also control the reliability habit e.g using it to solve academic problems that need their IQ involvements.”
In his contribution, a Consultant Paediatrician, Dr Suleiman Mayaki said there is a need for moderation in the use of smartphones by children.
He maintained that the effects of excessive smartphone use on the brain are still being studied, and more research is needed to fully understand the impact.
The child health expert, however, said the use of electronic devices without regulation leads to excessive and continuous activation of the brain’s reward system.
He explained, “Thinning of the cortical mantle has been associated with “excessive” smartphone use in early childhood. However, the long-term significance of this and other changes remains unclear.
“Also, the more significant effects of “excessive” smartphone use are behavioural and psychological. This means that the absence of structural brain changes does not preclude the impact of excessive smartphone use on the individual’s life.
“The use of electronic devices without regulation leads to excessive and continuous activation of the brain’s reward system. Specific examples have been demonstrated with excessive gaming and social media use, leading to obsessive behaviours and addiction. However, the brain changes occurring as a consequence are chemical rather than structural.”
Mayaki said it is possible to reverse the negative effects of excessive use of smartphones through counselling, support, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
He said, “ The dangers include; getting in the way of important stuff like school work, reduced sleep time and quality, strains of neck muscles, the potential for infection (smartphones and electronic devices can harbour and spread infectious agents), missing out on social connections, eye strain and pain, just to mention a few.
“Some effects are dependent on age. For instance, issues that might be more limited to adolescents include emotional health issues (anxiety, depression, etc), issues with body image, eating disorders, loneliness, and cyberbullying, just to mention a few.
“Healthy smartphone use can be promoted through a multitude of ways depending on age and level of intervention.
“Limiting screen time, promoting educational, prosocial and non-violent use, regulation of access, filtering of internet content (or sanctioning sites), adoption of international codes, health education, etc.”
A study published in the journal PNAS, which looked at the impact of smartphone use on working memory, found that excessive use of smartphones was associated with reduced working memory capacity, a key component of cognitive function.
The researchers suggested that this may be because excessive smartphone use depletes attentional resources and interferes with the ability to focus on tasks.
This finding has important implications for children and teens who are still developing their cognitive skills, as working memory is a key building block for learning and problem-solving.
During the study, the researchers recruited a group of college students who had agreed to participate in a lab study looking at the impact of smartphone use on the brain. The students were asked to perform a working memory task while their brains were being scanned using fMRI technology.
The task involved remembering a set of images that were presented on a screen for a brief period after the images were removed, and the participants were asked to recall the items in the set.
The researchers discovered that those who had reported using their smartphones for longer periods performed worse on the task than those who had used their smartphones for shorter periods.
The researchers also analyzed the fMRI scans of the participants’ brains and found that those who had used their smartphones for longer periods had reduced connectivity in a brain region called the frontoparietal network. This network is known to be involved in several cognitive functions, including working memory, attention, and decision-making.
The findings suggested that excessive smartphone use may have long-term consequences for cognitive functioning.
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