The Italian Society of Pediatrics to the topic of digital exposure in childhood and does so with an update that marks a milestone in the public debate: introducing smartphones, tablets, and video games into children’s lives too early has real and measurable consequences for their health.
The more we can postpone the autonomous use of devices, the more we invest in the physical, mental and cognitive well-being of the younger generation. Hence the stark guidance: no smartphones before age 13, no devices under two, clear limits in later age groups, and a constant call to get children back to the outdoors, play and authentic relationships.
Screens and health: a cost not to be ignored
SIP’s new review, built on more than 6,800 studies, reveals with a clarity that is hard to ignore that digital excess affects decisive aspects of development. It increases anxiety and sleep disturbances, reduces daily movement, interferes with cognitive processes, and alters the relationship with one’s own image. For a long time these effects remained in the background, blurred in a use of digital that seemed inevitable. Today, however, they emerge as a coherent picture: introducing screens too early means exposing oneself to risks that stratify over time.
When the screen becomes an accelerator of fragility
Scientific literature shows that the effects occur as early as the first two years of life. Just an extra half hour a day in front of a device can double the risk of language delay. It is a striking finding because it concerns a stage when the brain is formed primarily through tactile, motor and relational experiences.
Neuroimaging studies confirm the same direction: in children aged 3 to 5 years most exposed to screens, cortical areas with reduced thickness are found in areas crucial for language, memory and attention. A kind of curbed maturation, which may be reflected in the ability to learn and regulate emotions.
On the physical front, the situation is no less concerning. Fifty minutes a day of screens increases the risk of paediatric hypertension. An hour or more a day under age 13 is already a risk factor for overweight and obesity. Two hours daily, in adolescents, pushes that risk up to 67 per cent. It’s a linear relationship, indicative of how screen-induced sedentariness affects daily habits, often at the expense of movement and sleep quality.
Anxiety, addiction and social vulnerabilities
Mental health is the area where the effects appear most profound. In younger people, heavy digital use is associated with increased anxiety, depressive symptoms and decreased self-esteem.
The issue of digital addiction takes on the characteristics of an emerging problem. Problematic smartphone use can involve up to one in five young people. Internet gaming disorder is on the rise, with rates ranging from 1.7 per cent to 10.7 per cent in the adolescent population. Brain images of addicted teens show alterations similar to those observed in substance addiction: areas deputed to control and decision-making are less responsive. A common denominator of the most problematic cases is the arrival of the smartphone before age 13.
Digital vulnerability takes on even more serious contours when it comes to cyberbullying, which has grown by 26 per cent in the 10-13 age group. Victims show a threefold increased risk of suicidal ideation. Added to this is the increasingly frequent early exposure to explicit sexual content associated with risky sexual behaviour.
The new directions: bringing children back to the real world
SIP calls on families and schools for a change of pace: not a crusade against technology, but a return to the educational role of adults. Postpone personal smartphones and autonomous access to the internet until at least age 13. Postpone social media entry, even when the law allows it. No devices under age two, strict limits until age five, and controlled use in later stages. Eliminate screens at meals and before bedtime, a habit still too widespread: nearly nine out of ten adolescents sleep with their phones in their rooms.
The strongest indication, however, remains another: bring children back into the physical world. Sports, play, outdoor exploration, real relationships. All that supports vision, regulates sleep and shapes emotional skills.
As SIP President Rino Agostiniani reminds us, there is a need to give young people back “time to be bored, move, play and sleep.” That is where development happens. Every hour of excess screen time is an hour taken away from this vital foundation.
