A recent study suggests that prolonged exposure to blue light from screens, such as those on smartphones and tablets, may contribute to early puberty and accelerated bone growth. The findings were shared at Liverpool’s 62nd Annual European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Meeting.
“This is the first study to show how blue light could potentially influence physical growth and development, prompting further research into the effects of modern screen exposure on children’s growth,” said Dr. Aylin Kılınc Ugurlu of Gazi University, Turkey.
While the study was conducted on rats, the results raise concerns about the impact of blue light on human development. “We cannot be sure that these findings would be replicated in children, but our data suggest that prolonged exposure to blue light accelerates both the physical growth and maturation of the growth plate, leading to early puberty,” Dr. Ugurlu noted.
In the study, 18 male and 18 female rats aged 21 days were divided into three groups and exposed to either a normal light cycle, six hours of blue light, or 12 hours of blue light daily until the onset of puberty. The researchers found that the rats exposed to blue light had accelerated bone growth, particularly in their femurs, which matured too quickly. As a result, their bones could potentially stop growing earlier, leading to a shorter adult height.
“This means their bones matured too soon, which could potentially cause them to be shorter than average as adults,” Ugurlu explained.
The study comes at a time when researchers are noticing a rise in early puberty among children, particularly due to increased exposure to blue light from screens.
