Digital media can be toxic, but your kid will likely use it anyway. Can you make it healthier?

In case you hadn’t heard from everyone that digital media can be bad for kids, new research warns just how harmful it can be to their health.

About 20% of instances of depression and 15% of obesity cases in young people are associated with excessive screen time, according to a meta-analysis of 121 global studies of children and digital media published Sunday as part of a series of papers in the medical journal The Lancet.

The research adds to the understanding of the extent to which kids’ digital media use has become a public health problem that health authorities should govern and regulate, said Louise Holly, lead author of the research on kids and digital media. It shouldn’t just fall on parents to solve these problems, said Holly, policy and research coordinator at the Digital Transformations for Health Lab, a Geneva, Switzerland-based global consortium.

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12-year-olds with smartphones are more likely to develop eating disorders by 14

Not all kids face the same risks: Young people who have mental health vulnerabilities, less offline support and lower digital literacy are more likely to be harmed, according to the research.

The research utilized studies that often self-reported kids’ screen use, and many found that digital media use was associated with harms but couldn’t definitively say it caused them, Holly said.

Using digital media also causes far more cases of adverse health outcomes than beneficial ones in youth, according to the research.

Still, there are ways it can benefit kids’ health. It can give them outlets to achieve autonomy, explore their identities, find information, entertain themselves and make social connections, the research found.

It can have positive impacts on children when it “fulfills what they want it to do,” Holly said, and is used purposefully with support and supervision from caregivers, parents or guardians.

Since no amount of warnings seems to get kids off digital media, I recommend focusing on how it can be healthy for kids — and helping them avoid the risks.

Start by explaining to young people what’s happening in their heads, said Dr. Nicole Amoyal Pensak, a clinical psychologist and founder of Atlantic Coast Mind and Body in Little Silver, New Jersey. She was not involved in the research.

“They’re in a specific period of both vulnerability and opportunity because their brain is developing rapidly,” she said. “They have more power and control than they think.”

That’s because brains are very plastic in youth. Parts of their brains that kids use get strengthened, while those they don’t use atrophy.

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Some of what happens during youth can’t be reversed. It’s another reason to rethink kids’ screen time

Try explaining it like driving, Pensak said. Adults want kids to be in the driver’s seat. Teach them “how to build new roads but get rid of old roads that are not serving them,” she said.

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Pensak gives kids in her practice prunes to taste. Most don’t like them, so they try to avoid them in the future. That’s how we prune things from our brains, too, she said.

“When you don’t like something, or when something doesn’t make you feel good, you try to get rid of it,” she said — or at least reduce it. To figure out what to prune, teach kids to pay attention to how they think, act and feel when using digital media, Pensak said.

If a girl is comparing her body with others on social media, it’s time to reset.

“They need to not focus on that, not go over those roads,” Pensak said. If they do, their brain will learn to think that way and it will affect their mood and behaviors.

Be a shepherd helping kids find their way rather than someone who only controls access to their devices, Pensak said. You can do so by asking questions about their social media use and consuming content together.

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Parents should also help kids explore roads that can be healthy for them.

Digital media shouldn’t replace in-person interactions, but it can complement them by helping children plan social gatherings or connect with like-minded people (as long as they do so safely).

It can also help young people learn new things, so yes to videos that teach them how to crochet, otherwise be creative or do things with their hands.

“It’s really hard to be depressed and anxious and thinking negative thoughts when you’re actively doing stuff with your hands,” Pensak said.

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What makes young people reduce their social media use

Digital media can be especially helpful when kids are interested in activities that aren’t offered at school or they don’t do formally, she said. Maybe friends get together and make up a dance, recording it on video.

Things that pose challenges — think getting to the next level of a video game — are also great for kids’ brains. “As you build self-efficacy and confidence doing that, then you’ll take on another challenge,” Pensak said. “And this builds your brain in a really healthy, great way.”

This latest research confirms what parents know — digital media can be terrible for our kids. Unfortunately, more data is unlikely to get most kids off their devices. So, let’s try redirecting how they use them.

Kara Alaimo is a professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University and advises parents, students and teachers on how to manage screen time. Her book “Over the Influence: Why Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Take It Back” was published in 2024.

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如果你还没听说过数字媒体对孩子有害，那么最新的研究将告诉你，它对孩子的健康究竟有多么有害。

一项对 121 项全球儿童与数字媒体研究进行的荟萃分析显示，约 20% 的青少年抑郁症病例和 15% 的青少年肥胖症病例与屏幕时间过长有关。该荟萃分析于周日发表在医学期刊《柳叶刀》上，是该期刊一系列论文的一部分。

这项研究有助于人们更好地理解儿童使用数字媒体在多大程度上已成为公共卫生问题，需要卫生部门进行监管。该研究的主要作者路易丝·霍利（Louise Holly）表示，解决这些问题不应仅仅是父母的责任。霍利是总部位于瑞士日内瓦的全球性联盟“健康数字化转型实验室”（Digital Transformations for Health Lab）的政策和研究协调员。

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12岁拥有智能手机的孩子，到14岁时患饮食失调症的可能性更高。

并非所有孩子都面临同样的风险：研究表明，心理健康脆弱、线下支持较少、数字素养较低的年轻人更容易受到伤害。

霍莉说，这项研究利用了通常由儿童自我报告屏幕使用情况的研究，许多研究发现数字媒体的使用与危害有关，但无法明确地说它导致了这些危害。

研究表明，青少年使用数字媒体造成的健康损害远多于健康益处。

不过，研究发现，它也以某些方式有益于儿童的健康。它可以为他们提供途径，让他们获得自主权、探索自我认同、获取信息、自娱自乐并建立社交联系。

霍莉说，当它“满足孩子们的愿望”时，并且是在照护者、父母或监护人的支持和监督下有目的地使用时，它可以对孩子们产生积极的影响。

既然无论发出多少警告都无法让孩子们远离数字媒体，我建议重点关注数字媒体对孩子们的健康益处，并帮助他们避免风险。

“首先要向年轻人解释他们大脑中正在发生的事情，”新泽西州小银镇大西洋海岸身心健康中心的创始人、临床心理学家妮可·阿莫亚尔·彭萨克博士说。她没有参与这项研究。

“他们正处于一个既脆弱又充满机遇的特殊时期，因为他们的大脑正在快速发育，”她说。“他们拥有的力量和掌控力比他们想象的要大。”

这是因为青少年时期的大脑可塑性很强。他们大脑中经常使用的部分会得到加强，而不常用的部分则会萎缩。

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有些青少年时期发生的事情是无法逆转的。这也是我们应该重新思考孩子屏幕时间的另一个原因。

彭萨克说，可以试着用开车来解释。大人希望孩子们能掌控方向盘。教他们“如何修建新路，以及如何拆除那些不再为他们服务的旧路”。

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彭萨克在诊所里给孩子们尝西梅干。大多数孩子都不喜欢，所以以后就尽量避免吃。她说，我们清除大脑中某些东西的方式也是如此。

“当你不喜欢某样东西，或者某样东西让你感觉不好时，你会想办法摆脱它，”她说——或者至少减少它。彭萨克说，为了弄清楚应该删减哪些内容，应该教孩子们注意他们在使用数字媒体时的想法、行为和感受。

如果一个女孩在社交媒体上将自己的身材与他人比较，那就该重新开始了。

“他们不应该关注这些，不应该走那些路，”彭萨克说。“如果他们那样做，他们的大脑就会养成那种思维模式，这会影响他们的情绪和行为。”

彭萨克说，与其仅仅控制孩子们的电子设备使用权限，不如像牧羊人一样引导他们找到方向。你可以通过询问他们使用社交媒体的情况，并与他们一起浏览内容来实现这一点。

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家长也应该帮助孩子探索对他们有益的道路。

数字媒体不应该取代面对面的互动，但它可以作为补充，帮助孩子们计划社交聚会或与志同道合的人联系（只要他们这样做是安全的）。

它还可以帮助年轻人学习新事物，所以，教他们钩针编织、发挥创造力或动手做东西的视频，我都赞成。

“当你积极地用双手做事情时，很难感到沮丧、焦虑和产生消极的想法，”彭萨克说。

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是什么原因导致年轻人减少使用社交媒体

她说，当孩子们对学校没有开设或没有正式参与的活动感兴趣时，数字媒体尤其有用。比如，朋友们可以聚在一起即兴创作一支舞蹈，并录制成视频。

具有挑战性的事情——比如在电子游戏中闯过下一关——对孩子的大脑发育也很有益处。“当你通过完成这些挑战建立起自我效能感和自信心时，你就会去迎接下一个挑战，”彭萨克说。“而这会以一种非常健康、有益的方式促进你的大脑发育。”

这项最新研究证实了家长们早已知晓的事实——数字媒体对孩子可能造成严重危害。遗憾的是，更多的数据不太可能让大多数孩子放下电子设备。因此，我们不妨尝试引导他们正确使用电子设备。

卡拉·阿拉伊莫是费尔利·狄金森大学的传播学教授，她为家长、学生和教师提供关于如何管理屏幕时间的建议。她的著作《过度影响：为什么社交媒体对女性和女孩有害——以及我们如何才能夺回控制权》于2024年出版。

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