The relationship between cell phone use, physical and sedentary activity, and cardiorespiratory fitness in a sample of U.S. college students.
Lepp A, Barkley JE, Sanders GJ, Rebold M, Gates P. · 2013
View Original AbstractHeavy cell phone use was linked to significantly lower cardiovascular fitness in college students, suggesting our devices may harm health through behavioral changes.
Plain English Summary
Researchers studied college students to examine how cell phone use affects physical fitness and activity levels. They found that students who used their phones more had significantly lower cardiorespiratory fitness, even after accounting for other factors like body fat and exercise motivation. The study suggests this happens because heavy phone users often skip physical activities to use their devices, and phone use tends to be part of a broader pattern of sedentary behavior.
Why This Matters
This research reveals an important indirect pathway by which our devices may be harming our health. While much EMF research focuses on direct biological effects like cellular damage or brain changes, this study demonstrates how our technology habits create behavioral patterns that undermine our physical wellbeing. The finding that heavy cell phone users had measurably lower cardiorespiratory fitness points to a concerning trend where screen time displaces the physical activity our bodies need to thrive. What makes this particularly relevant is that the behavioral effects documented here may be more immediately impactful than some of the longer-term biological effects still being studied. The reality is that our devices are reshaping how we spend our time in ways that can compromise our health through multiple pathways.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
The purpose of this study was to investigate these relationships among a sample of healthy college students.
Participants were first interviewed about their physical activity behavior and cell phone use. Then ...
Cell phone use was significantly (p = 0.047) and negatively (β = −0.25) related to cardio respirator...
Cell phone use, like traditional sedentary behaviors, may disrupt physical activity and reduce cardiorespiratory fitness.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2013_the_relationship_between_cell_2349,
author = {Lepp A and Barkley JE and Sanders GJ and Rebold M and Gates P.},
title = {The relationship between cell phone use, physical and sedentary activity, and cardiorespiratory fitness in a sample of U.S. college students.},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1186/1479-5868-10-79},
url = {https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5868-10-79},
}