When should kids get a smartphone? A CHOP study links owning one before age 12 to health risks.

Ran Barzilay, a psychiatrist and researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, won’t be letting his 9-year-old son get a smartphone before age 13.

He made the decision based on data from his recent study, published in the medical journal Pediatrics, which linked getting a smartphone at a young age to worse health consequences.

Kids who owned a smartphone by age 12 had a greater risk of depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep compared to those who didn’t, a research team led by Barzilay found.

That was based on observational data collected between 2016 and 2022 in an ongoing study of more than 10,000 children across the U.S. Designed to assess brain development and child health, the nationwide Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study has been following children for the last decade, starting from ages 9 to 10 into early adulthood.

The age at which kids got a phone in this cohort ranged from 4 to 13, with a median age of 11.

“We’re not advocating for people to go back to the Stone Age. We know that eventually, almost every teen will get their smartphone,” said Barzilay, the study’s lead author.

Smartphone ownership is high among U.S. children and teens. Nearly 60% of parents of an 11- or 12-year-old said their child owned one in a 2025 Pew Research Center survey. By comparison, 29% of kids ages 8 to 10 and 12% of 5- to 7-year-olds had smartphones, the survey found.

Concern about the impacts of mobile devices comes as rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety have been rising among U.S. youth over the last decade. Though screens are unlikely to be the only factor, many studies have linked excessive use to worse mental health.

» READ MORE: American kids’ health is in decline, and they’re dying at disproportionate rates, CHOP researcher says

That’s not to say smartphones don’t have benefits. The devices can help youth stay connected with people and address safety concerns parents may have.

“We’re not saying smartphones are bad, but we’re not saying they’re good,” Barzilay said.

To him, the takeaway is that parents should consider how giving a child a smartphone could impact their kid’s health.

“Make sure that it doesn’t consume all of their life,” he said.

Barzilay’s team first compared the health outcomes of children in the study who owned a smartphone by age 12 to those who didn’t.

Those who had the device had a 31% greater risk of depression, a 40% greater risk of obesity, and a 62% greater risk of insufficient sleep, which in this case meant getting less than nine hours of sleep.

They next found that there was a roughly 10% increase in the odds of obesity and insufficient sleep at age 12 for each year younger than 12 that the child received a smartphone.

Earlier age of ownership, however, was not associated with a higher risk of depression.

A limitation of the study is that the researchers did not have data on what children were doing on their smartphones. They could not account for whether the child was exposed to adverse content on their device, or what they tended to use it for.

His team’s last analysis zeroed in on the children who did not already have a smartphone at age 12.

A year later, at age 13, roughly half of the kids in that group had received one. That came with a higher risk of having mental health problems and insufficient sleep compared to the half who had not received a smartphone.

His team controlled for factors, such as income, parental education level, puberty, parental monitoring, and whether the kids had tablets, laptops, or a smartwatch, that might also affect the outcomes.

However, other factors not captured by the research, which relied on observational data, still may have contributed to the outcomes identified.

It’s important to keep in mind that these findings speak to broad trends seen in the population and wouldn’t predict a specific child’s outcome, Barzilay said.

“We need to remember that this is on average,” he said. “It doesn’t say anything for the individual child.”

His oldest two children, who are now in high school, received their first phones before age 12.

If parents give their child a smartphone, they should check in regularly to see how it impacts the child’s lifestyle. Screen time shouldn’t come at the expense of sleep, physical activity, or quality time with friends and family.

Barzilay also suggested having the child keep their smartphone out of their bedroom at night and having tech-free family time, such as during dinner.

Ultimately, he would encourage parents to make an informed decision on smartphone ownership for their child based on the evidence out there on the harms and benefits.

“Things that can help families delay the use of phones will probably make sense,” he said.