Hong Kong social media has criticised a city mother who is trying to treat her daughter’s “addiction” to her smartphone by replacing it with a basic device which only allows old-style dial-up calls.
Smartphones have made our lives easier and have become indispensable for everyday life; however, their uncontrolled and excessive use can trigger “smartphone addiction” (SA). SA is a rising public health issue, particularly among young people around the world. There is a dearth of empirical research about SA and its impacts on young adults, particularly in developing countries such as Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study is an attempt to fill this gap. The data were collected from 440 eligible young adults in Bangladesh using an online survey between July 2021 and February 2022. Study results revealed that 61.4% of the young adults were addicted to their smartphone. Logistic regression analysis showed that being male, aged ≤25, unemployed and living with a large family size (≥8) were the significant sociodemographic predictors of SA. Smartphone-addicted participants were more likely to be less physically active, suffer from insomnia, be overweight or obese and use their phone
The Shark Tank India judge expressed his frustration with the constant urge to check his smartphone and asked urged people to come up with a 'solution'.
The study, called 'Switch Off,' surveyed around 2,000 customers across various cities in India. The survey was conducted by Cybermedia Research and was powered by smartphone manufacturer Vivo.