{"id":477073,"date":"2026-09-27T03:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T03:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/477073\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T03:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T03:34:13","slug":"when-should-your-kid-get-a-smartphone-new-ucsf-jama-network-open-study-explains-how-it-could-be-linked-to-eating-disorders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/477073\/","title":{"rendered":"When should your kid get a smartphone? New UCSF, JAMA Network Open study explains how it could be linked to eating disorders"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A new national study is raising questions about when children should get their first smartphones and what early access could mean for their relationship with food and body image.<\/p>\n

The study, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, followed 8,957 U.S. adolescents over two years. Researchers found that children who owned a smartphone at age 12 had a higher risk of several eating disorder symptoms by age 14.<\/p>\n

Nearly 70% of the children in the study had a smartphone at age 12. After researchers accounted for earlier eating disorder symptoms and a range of demographic, developmental, mental health and family factors, smartphone owners had a 67% higher risk of binge-eating symptoms and a 50% higher risk of inappropriate behaviors meant to prevent weight gain. They also had about twice the risk of tying their self-worth to their weight.<\/p>\n

MORE: Former Meta engineer says Instagram took a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach on kids under 13<\/a><\/p>\n

At age 14, 24.2% of children who had owned a smartphone at 12 reported at least one eating disorder symptom, compared with 15.5% of those who had not.<\/p>\n

UCSF pediatrician Dr. Jason Nagata, the study’s lead author, said early adolescence can be an especially sensitive time for body image.<\/p>\n

“Having a smartphone can just put a world of appearance focused content in the young person’s pocket,” Nagata said.<\/p>\n

The study found an association and does not prove smartphones caused eating disorders. Researchers said more work is needed to understand exactly what may be driving the link.<\/p>\n

Still, some parents told ABC7 Eyewitness News the findings did not surprise them.<\/p>\n

“Social media. I mean, it plays a big role in what people see day to day or children’s day to day,” aunt Jessica Custodio said.<\/p>\n

Another parent, Natalie, pointed to the body types children can encounter online.<\/p>\n

“They’re seeing a lot of like YouTube and social media models who are who are unrealistic, unrealistically thin,” she said.<\/p>\n

MORE: Social media ‘addicting the brains of children,’ plaintiff’s lawyer argues in landmark trial<\/a><\/p>\n

That online environment is also changing as influencers document body transformations, “looksmaxxing” trends spread online and celebrity use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs becomes part of popular culture.<\/p>\n

San Francisco author and weight discrimination expert Virgie Tovar said drugs such as Ozempic have helped shift the conversation around body size.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s obvious that Ozempic has really changed the culture,” Tovar said.<\/p>\n

MORE: Researchers looking into whether GLP-1 drugs can help slow aging<\/a><\/p>\n

Tovar also pointed to what she described as a cultural whiplash. After years of body positivity becoming more visible in advertising and popular culture, she said the rapid return of ultra-thin body ideals can be difficult to process.<\/p>\n

“I think to see that walked back on so rapidly is extremely disorienting,” Tovar said.<\/p>\n

Researchers did not identify a specific age when a child should receive a smartphone. Nagata said families have different needs, but parents should pay attention to what children are seeing once they have access.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s just really important for parents to stay involved with their children’s digital lives,” Nagata said.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A new national study is raising questions about when children should get their first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[187331,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-477073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-187331","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}