Politico (10/2, Chiappa ) reports, “Countries should consider regulating digital devices like smartphones in a similar way to tobacco products, to combat social media’s rising negative impact on young people’s mental health, the World Health Organization’s Natasha Azzopardi Muscat said.”
With growing “evidence that problematic gaming and social media behavior is on the rise among adolescents in Europe, countries should take inspiration from other areas of public health where legislation has helped address potentially damaging habits – such as tobacco laws, she said.” Measures such as “age limits, controlled prices and even no-go zones worked for regulating tobacco, so they could be taken as an example for how to curb damaging use of handheld devices like smartphones, Azzopardi Muscat, director of country health policies and systems at WHO Europe, told POLITICO.”
Related Links:
— “Control smartphones like tobacco, says leading WHO expert,” Claudia Chiappa, Politico, October 2, 2024