United States: Concerns have arisen that smartphones pose a peril to our physical well-being, advocating for a reduction in screen engagement.
In the annals of yore, a healer in Brest, France embarked on a mission to coax individuals into relinquishing their smartphones.
The endeavor was undertaken by a self-selected cadre already inclined towards curtailing their phone usage.
However, Yannick Guillodo, a sports medic affiliated with Brest’s University Hospital Centre (CHU), elucidates that approximately three-quarters of the nearly 500 participants surveyed were incapable of trimming their phone usage by an hour daily, according to euronews.com.
Nevertheless, nine out of ten of those who did manage exhibited heightened physical activity, as per their preliminary analysis.
Presently, he has penned a tome, released in French under the provocative title “Smartphones Kill” (Le smartphone tue), cautioning not only about the arduousness of relinquishing phones but also about their propensity to induce sedentarism.
“My initial curiosity was piqued by the correlation between smartphone proliferation and sedentary tendencies. Because, when we gaze upon our smartphones, we are ensconced on a settee or in a chair,” he imparted to Euronews Health.
“If I devote an additional hour to a smartphone whilst seated, I am spending another hour sedentary. And in that, we have research that unequivocally demonstrates that a sedentary lifestyle poses a palpable risk for chronic ailments, commonly referred to as non-communicable diseases, encompassing diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular maladies, certain cancers, and so forth,” he appended.
Telephones and Sedentary Living
Andrew Lepp, a scholar at Kent State University in the United States, has also delved into the nexus between phone usage and physical activity.
“We have conducted numerous surveys assessing sedentary behavior, physical activity, and cellular device usage,” he conveyed via electronic missive, as per euronews.com.
“Undoubtedly, individuals who utilize cell phones more extensively also spend substantially more time ensconced,” he supplemented.
He further unearthed that individuals who employ phones more frequently are inclined to employ them even during exercise.
“Should one be scrolling, texting, or even conversing on the phone during physical exertion, it diminishes the intensity of the exercise,” he explicated.
In a publication in the Digital Health journal in 2019, Lepp and collaborators posited that heightened cell phone utilization could be “a significant prognosticator” of what they dub an “active couch potato.”
These individuals fulfill the requisites for physical activity yet concurrently lead exceedingly sedentary lifestyles.
“The active couch potato represents a demographic at risk, for, broadly speaking, the adverse health ramifications of prolonged sitting are detached from the merits of physical activity,” he opined.
Do Smartphones Elicit Other Physiological Ramifications?
Paul Elliott, a luminary at Imperial College London, is delving into the repercussions of smartphones vis-à-vis their potential to precipitate enduring health issues, according to euronews.com.
In a recent study disseminated this month, he and his cohorts found that employing a mobile phone does not, fortunately, augment one’s susceptibility to developing cerebral neoplasms.
The investigation, which commenced in 2007, was predicated on 250,000 mobile phone subscribers and represented the largest multinational longitudinal study exploring the subject.
“By virtue of the prospective design of the study wherein we inquire about mobile phone usage and track individuals prior to disease onset (in addition to obtaining objective data on mobile phone usage, with participant consent, from mobile network operators), we can scrutinize an extensive array of maladies, not solely cerebral neoplasms,” Elliott elucidated.
“These encompass other malignancies, cardiovascular afflictions, neurological disorders, as well as investigations into fecundity and reproductive repercussions. We have also been scrutinizing the onset of symptoms such as cephalalgia,” he appended.
Elliott was also a co-contributor of a study disseminated in 2021 that scrutinized the impact of digital technology on body mass index (BMI) in adolescents, uncovering an association between the two.
This linkage was “partially mediated by inadequate slumber,” the researchers expounded in conclusion, intimating that myriad factors may be at play.
Meanwhile, Guillodo in Brest is also intrigued by these myriad factors contributing to our well-being due to smartphone utilization, encompassing their impact on our dietary habits and sleep patterns.
He opines that deliberations regarding averting physical inactivity should factor in smartphone usage, with solutions necessitating a multi-pronged approach encompassing individual efforts, corporate initiatives, governmental policies, and actions by tech behemoths.
Guillodo proffers modest adjustments such as powering down phones during repasts and eschewing them 45 minutes prior to retiring for the night, as well as abstaining from their use during professional gatherings.