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Health Check: Is a Lot of Tech Use Damaging Adolescent Well-Being?

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2019/01/16 GMT

Is a Lot of Tech Use Damaging Adolescent Well-Being?

BBC World Service - Health Check, Is a Lot of Tech Use Damaging Adolescent Well-Being?

New study finds the effect on teenage mental health is barely worse than eating potatoes

Has the negative impact of technology on teenagers been overstated?; A new way of tackling the damaging effect of chemotherapy on nail health; What we know about exercise and mood

Contrary to popular beliefs, new research this week using data from 300,000 adolescents and parents in the UK and USA has found that only 0.4% of well-being in adolescents is associated with their use of technology. This is marginally more than the impact of eating potatoes and slightly less than wearing glasses. Given the regular reports about the harms of teenagers spending a lot of time looking at digital devices, what should we make of all this? Professor Andrew Przybylski, who carried out this most recent analysis, is an experimental psychologist and Director of Research at the Oxford Internet Institute.  

The side effects of chemotherapy are pretty well-known: nausea, fatigue and patients’ hair falling out. But there has been less focus on another impact the powerful drugs can have; on nail health. Nails can become black, broken or brittle and sometimes even fall off. Until recently there was little that could be done about it, but Professor Robert Thomas, a Consultant Oncologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, has developed a novel way to help alleviate these problems. The BBC’s Marijke Peters reports.

Those who have embarked on a New Year’s exercise plan might find that it improves not only their fitness but their mood. Some family doctors even prescribe exercise for people with mild depression. But in order to make a difference, does a person have to pound the streets running or head to the gym or would a gentle walk be just as good? A review of all the best research about exercise and mood was recently published and Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster, speaks to Claudia about what we can learn from it. 


(Photo caption: Teenager with tablet while lying on the floor in the room - credit:  Getty Images)          


Health Check was presented by Claudia Hammond with comments from BBC Health and Science correspondent, James Gallagher.


Producer: Paula McGrath

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