Adolescents using social media have a greater risk of experiencing poor mental health, including symptoms of depression and anxiety," wrote Vasan and city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Chief Medical Officer Michelle Morse in a Sept. 5 letter to doctors and other medical professionals.
Recommend parents and caregivers delay giving children a smartphone, or similar device that can access social media, until age 14, and then reassess based on current evidence of harms and the child's strengths and needs," the missive said.
Pediatricians also should discuss the perils of over exposure to smart phones and social media with parents and their children as part of a "family media plan" to curb or prohibit use, according to the letter.
In 2021, 38% of city high schoolers felt so sad or hopeless during the previous year that they stopped engaging in their usual activities, compared with 27% in 2011, according to the city's youth risk-behavior survey.
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