A recent Danish study showed that children spending long hours in front of screens, whether tablets, phones, or televisions, may increase their risk of heart diseases and metabolic problems. According to the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, children and young adults who spend many hours on electronic devices may be more prone to heart diseases and metabolic issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance. They also face a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases or diabetes. Using data from over 1000 adolescents and young people aged 10 to 18 about their screen time and sleep habits, researchers studied the relationship between screen time and cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. The analysis showed that each additional hour of screen time increases the risk of diseases, with the greatest gap seen in 18-year-olds compared to 10-year-olds, and the risk worsens with less sleep.

David Horner, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, stated: “This means that a child who spends three hours daily in front of screens is at a risk higher by a quarter to half a standard deviation compared to peers.”