Smartphones and teenagers are combinations that can bring negative results in many areas. A recent study done in South Korea found some really disturbing reasons.

In the study, researchers analyzed data of over 53,000 Korean adolescence from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey.

What did they find?

According to the study, teens who spend over 2 hours per day on their smartphones are more likely to eat more processed food. They are also less likely to consume fruits and vegetables.

Teens who spent more than 3 hours every day on their smartphones are significantly more likely to be overweight or obese.

Screen time is a totally sedentary activity, and it occupies a lot of time. They could have used this time in sports or other physical activities. Such physical activities could have provided some health benefits. But when people are busy with their mobile phones and are sedentary, they do not get such benefits.

Other results

There are some other results that the study found-

• Teens who spent 5 hours on the phone daily wear likely to bring carbonated and noncarbonated sugar-sweetened beverages. They were also more likely to eat fast, chips and instant noodles.
• Participants who use their phones to search for information and healthier eating habits compared to participants who use their mobile phones to share, use messenger, play games, watch videos, listen to music and connect on social media.
• Participant teens who mostly use their mobile phones to play games, watch videos, listen to music or read webtoons and web novels were more likely to be overweight or obese.

Making healthy changes

According to health experts, smartphones have negative effects on your diet and health, but you can reduce those negative effects in some simple ways.

It is a little difficult to do away with mobile phones by it is possible to keep them around and even then stay healthy. Many teens do not prioritize healthy eating and exercising. In that case, parents will need to stress the importance of healthy eating and also exercising regularly.

Parents can also be good health role models for their children. They can help the teens to set up some strict boundaries around smartphone uses. The parents also need to emphasize some sort of physical activity every day so that the children can grow up healthier.

Don't eat while using the phone

Teenagers and their parents need to enforce a strict rule that bans smartphones while eating. Never eat or allow others to while using a smartphone. Put down the mobile phones while having meals with friends and family.

A screen time limit

It is very important to create a screen time limit. You can allow a certain amount of time every day to spend on screens. After that time is over, they can switch the mobile phones off or keep away from reach.

Putting a timer on the smartphone

To ensure that you do not and stare at your mobile phone screen for hours, you can set its alarm to go off every hour. The alarm will help you remind yourself to get up and move around. Even if you are moving around for a few minutes every hour, these few minutes will add up and will offer you health benefits.

Stand with your phone

When using your phone, make it a rule to stand up. Whether you are browsing something, using social media, playing games, or talking to someone, you can always stand up inside of sitting down.