Teens who barely stop talking on their mobile phones are more prone to disrupted sleep, stress, fatigue and restlessness, finds a new international study.
This in turn is leading to poorer performance at school, and emotional health, including a higher risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The finding is based on two studies that will be presented at the at the Sleep 2008 meeting of Associated Sleep Societies in the United States this week.
The first study was conducted by researchers at Sweden's Sahlgren Academy, who found that adolescents who made more than 15 phone calls and sent more than 15 text messages in a day not only slept poorly, but when compared to kids who made did the same less than five times a day, they were also leading more careless lifestyles, including spending more time on their computers, drinking more alcohol and caffeinated drinks.
Based on this, lead author Dr Gaby Badre, said that mobile addiction could compromise a teen's health, reports the Daily Telegraph.
The second study was conducted in the US by Fred Danner at the University of Kentucky.
He found that teens, who were addicted to their phones, slept less than eight hours a night and thus got poorer marks at school. In addition to this, he also found that such kids had a higher level of emotional disturbance and risk of developing ADHD.
