Spending long hours for screens, either on telephones or TVs, can increase the risk of heart and metabolic diseases in children, a Danish study revealed on Wednesday.
The study followed the screen consumption and sleeping habits of more than 1,000 10-year-olds and 18-year-olds, in which researchers investigate the relationship between screen time and cardiometabolic risk factors.
“Children and young adults who spend excessive hours on screens and electronic devices can have higher risks for cardiometabolic diseases, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and insulin resistance,” said the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
They then run a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disorders or diabetes, the researchers thought.
The analysis showed that every extra hour of the daily screen time increases the risk of illness.
“This means that a child with three extra hours of screen time a day would have about a quarter to a half standard deviation higher risk than their colleagues,” said lead author David Horner, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, in a statement.
“Multiply that in a whole population of children, and you look at a meaningful shift in the early cardiometabolic risk that maturity could bring,” Horner added.
Researchers are divided over the potential harmful effects of screens on children and adolescents, but the majority agree that younger populations are more at risk compared to adults.
