A new study, published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, found that teenage girls are more quickly susceptible than boys to physical and mental risks from prolonged use of electronic devices.
The study, revealed on Tuesday, also found that girls’ health could deteriorate after staring at their screens for as little as 75 minutes each day, whereas such effects on boys took about 105 minutes.
University of Queensland’s Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Associate Professor Asad Khan said the study analyzed data from 42 countries of more than 577,000 teens aged 13 to 15.
“Our study shows increased physical activity is clearly associated with better mental well-being of adolescents,” Khan said, confirming what a lot of parents probably have long suspected.
The researchers believe girls, even when not using their devices, are more inclined than boys to choose sedentary indoor activities, which is the key reason why they often suffer the ill-effects quicker.
Khan also said that overuse of the devices could lead to depression, obesity, poor quality of life, unhealthy diet and decreased physical and cognitive abilities such as memory loss and poor attention.
He also said the researchers were examining the health differences among people aged 18 to 24 who are mentally active online, such as using computers to write assignments, as opposed to passive screen users, such as those who habitually watch videos.
