New Data Connects Smartphone Ownership at Age 12 to Obesity and Mental Health Concerns
Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health
Briana Mercola
4.6 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
- Early smartphone ownership at age 12 is linked to higher risks of depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep, placing your child on a riskier long-term developmental path
- Each year earlier a child receives a smartphone increases the odds of obesity and insufficient sleep, showing just how much the timing of that first phone shapes their health
- Children who acquire a smartphone between ages 12 and 13 face sharply higher rates of emotional symptoms and poor sleep compared to peers who remain phone-free
- Receiving a smartphone before age 13 is linked to lower self-worth, weaker emotional resilience, and greater psychological distress in young adulthood
- Simple steps like delaying smartphone access, keeping devices out of bedrooms, and reducing wireless exposure support healthier sleep, emotional steadiness, and long-term well-being
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Are you giving a 12-year-old a device that quietly rewires sleep, mood, and wait for years to come? |
| 0:06.0 | Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen |
| 0:11.2 | summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required. |
| 0:15.8 | Subscribe for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights. Hello and welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. |
| 0:22.6 | I'm Ethan Foster. |
| 0:23.6 | Today we're examining new research connecting age 12 smartphone ownership |
| 0:27.6 | with higher risks of depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep, |
| 0:32.6 | and what you can do to protect long-term well-being. |
| 0:35.6 | I'm Alara Sky. We'll walk through the key findings, |
| 0:40.1 | including why every year you delay that first phone lowers risk, how early access alters |
| 0:46.5 | emotional development, and the specific steps you can take to stabilize sleep, stress, and daily |
| 0:53.3 | rhythms. |
| 0:55.0 | The first data point is Stark. |
| 0:57.0 | In a pediatrics analysis of 10,58 adolescents, those who owned a smartphone at age 12 had a |
| 1:05.0 | 31% higher risk of depression, a 40% higher risk of obesity, and a 62% higher likelihood of insufficient sleep compared |
| 1:13.6 | to peers without phones. That's not a small shift. It's a different health trajectory |
| 1:18.6 | that shows up quickly. |
| 1:20.6 | The timing matters as much as the device itself. For each year earlier, a child received |
| 1:25.6 | a smartphone. The odds of obesity rose another 9% |
| 1:29.3 | and the odds of insufficient sleep rose 8%. |
| 1:32.3 | That per year effect means delaying access is a meaningful protective choice |
| 1:37.3 | rather than a minor preference. |
... |
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