Phone pregnancy alert

Tuesday December 7th, 2010

Pregnant women who make heavy use of mobile phones may contribute to their children developing behaviour problems, researchers claimed today.

And giving young children phones may also trigger problems, according to the study from Denmark.

Early exposure to mobile phones increases the risk that a child may be badly behaved by as much as 50 per cent, researchers report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The findings come from a study of some 28,000 women taking part in a major study of the health of children. The women gave birth to children between 1996 and 2002.

The researchers found that about six per cent of children had behaviour problems. Their analysis suggests that exposure to phones before pregnancy increased the risk by 40 per cent - while having access to a phone at a young age raised it by 20 per cent.

As many as 35 per cent of the seven-year-olds were using mobile phones - and 17 per cent were exposed to mobile phones by their mothers before birth.

Researcher Dr Leeka Kheifets, of the University of California Los Angeles, USA, declined to speculate on the reason for the link.

One simple explanation may be that heavy use of mobile phones is more likely among women whose lifestyles may also lead to children being hyperactive.

Dr Kheifets writes: "Although it is premature to interpret these results as causal, we are concerned that early exposure to cell phones could carry a risk, which, if real, would be of public health concern given the widespread use of this technology."

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health December 7 2010 doi:10.1136/jech.2010.115402

Tags: Child Health | Childbirth and Pregnancy | Europe | North America | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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