Teenagers who spend hours on the internet may be risking high blood pressure, a study suggests.
Researchers in the US found that teens who spent at least 14 hours a week online are more likely to have elevated blood pressure.
Tablets and smartphones
Use of the internet among young people has soared in recent years, with gaming and social media adding to the hours already needed to complete school tasks and homework. The advent of smartphones and tablets has further increased the opportunity to get online.
The findings, published in the Journal of School Nursing, are based on a study of 331 healthy adolescents aged 14 to 17. From these they identified 134 teenagers who were heavy internet users - defined as those who spent more than 2 hours each day online.
The researchers found that the proportion of adolescents with elevated blood pressure was:
6.9% in light users
12.2% in moderate users
19.4% in heavy users.
Internet use and obesity
They also discovered that 43% of heavy Internet users were considered overweight compared to 26% of light Internet users. Also, 52% of girls were heavy internet users compared to 48% of boys.
The authors believe this is the first study to match internet use with blood pressure among adolescents.
Lead author Andrea Cassidy-Bushrow, from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit says in a statement: "Using the internet is part of our daily life but it shouldn't consume us. In our study, teens considered heavy Internet users were on the internet an average of 25 hours a week.
"It's important that young people take regular breaks from their computer or smartphone, and engage in some form of physical activity. I recommend to parents they limit their children's time at home on the internet. I think 2 hours a day, 5 days a week is a good rule of thumb."
High blood pressure can be caused by a number of factors, but not having enough physical activityand being overweight or obese are important causes.
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