The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned about a significant increase in problematic social media use among young people.
In their latest report, the WHO compared data from 44 countries across Europe, Central Asia, and Canada. A total of 280,000 adolescents, aged 11, 13, and 15, participated in the surveys. The study revealed a concerning rise in problematic social media behaviour.
On average, 11% of teenagers exhibited signs of social media addiction in 2022. The issue is more prevalent among girls, with 13% affected compared to 9% of boys. These youths struggle to control their usage, experience withdrawal symptoms, and neglect other activities. This marks an increase from 7% four years earlier. Flanders reports a slightly better figure at 9%.
“We need immediate and sustained action to help teenagers curb potentially harmful social media use, which has been linked to depression, bullying, anxiety, and poor academic performance,” stated Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
Romanian teenagers are the most affected, with 22% showing problematic behaviour, while the Netherlands reports the lowest addiction rate at 5%. “Young people should control social media, rather than being controlled by it,” remarked WHO researcher Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, responsible for European health policy.
The WHO urges national governments to implement measures. Schools could promote healthy and responsible social media use. Recently, the new Walloon government announced plans to ban smartphones in primary schools. In Flanders, a general ban is not currently being considered.
