WHO expert said, "We need to regulate smartphones...Adolescents' Mental Health Negative"

Health policy experts from the World Health Organization and WHO have stated that countries need to regulate smartphones like cigarettes, saying that the harm of smartphones to adolescents' mental health is growing.

Natasha Azopardi Muscat, head of national health policy and systems at WHO's European branch, said in a recent interview with Politico, a U.S. political media outlet, that problematic behaviors derived from smartphone use are increasing among adolescents.

Muscat said measures such as age restrictions, price controls and establishment of non-smoking areas were effective in tobacco control and could also be used as a way to curb the harmful use of mobile devices such as smartphones.

"It's time to think about where it's appropriate to use digital devices, and where you shouldn't use certain digital devices," he said, just as smoking was banned in certain places.

A WHO study released last month found that among 280,000 people between the ages of 11 and 15 living in Europe, Central Asia and Canada, 13% of girls and 9% of boys had difficulty controlling their use of SNS and experienced negative consequences.

As concerns have recently grown about the link between SNS and youth mental health, the European Union plans to conduct its first European-level investigation into the impact of SNS on youth well-being.