Does Age of Smartphone Ownership Affect Child Health? With Ran Barzilay, MD, PhD
Does Age of Smartphone Ownership Affect Child Health? With Ran Barzilay, MD, PhD  
Podcast: Screen Deep
Published On: Wed Mar 04 2026
Description: How do online environments shape children’s health and well-being? Which features have the biggest impact, and how can we make sense of the very different ways individual children experience the same digital world? On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry discusses new research into this “digital exposome” with Dr. Ran Barzilay, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Barzilay explains how researchers are beginning to measure and quantify online environmental factors, cutting-edge findings from his study on adolescent smartphone ownership and health risks, and why making recommendations can be challenging when conclusive evidence is lacking. He also provides concrete suggestions for parents, including signs to look for when deciding whether it might be appropriate to introduce a smartphone. In this episode, you will learn:How researchers are using new data techniques to quantify parts of the digital environment that may affect child health and why that matters for families What new, cutting-edge research suggests about the age of first smartphone ownership and negative health outcomesWhat emerging evidence is showing about other digital use patterns and child health - and what questions scientists are still trying to answer How one leading researcher is  thinking about digital parenting decisions for his own family based on the new evidenceFor more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)--------------Follow Children and Screens on: Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentInstagram: @childrenandscreensLinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentX: @childrenscreensBluesky: @childrenandscreens.bsky.social---------------Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au