A Lancet series examines potential harms and benefits while calling for better access to technology companies’ data.
The Canadian
Health
October 4, 2026
3 min read
A new series of papers in The Lancet is putting the health effects of young people’s digital technology use under renewed scrutiny. Reported by CBC on Sunday evening, the research draws on international studies to examine potential risks to physical and mental well-being—and argues that researchers need access to technology companies’ own data to understand the scale of the problem.
The series considers both potential harms and benefits rather than treating every form of screen use as equivalent. That distinction is important: digital technology is used for learning, communication and entertainment, while particular patterns of use may interfere with everyday life. The public-health question is how to identify those patterns and the conditions that encourage them.
Jay Shaw, a co-author and assistant professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Physical Therapy, told CBC that the broad review offers a way to consider what is needed to protect children’s health. The research frames the issue as more than a private struggle between a young person, a device and a parent trying to set limits.
CBC’s report also described a Toronto family’s difficulty reducing a teenager’s device use, through the experience of Children First Canada board chair Andrea Chrysanthou. Such accounts illustrate the concern but are not, on their own, evidence of how common a condition is or proof that all young users experience the same effects.
The call for platform data is central to the research discussion. Information held by technology companies could help researchers examine how use develops and which features or behaviours are associated with problems. A demand for better evidence is not the same as a settled diagnosis, and potential associations should not be presented as proof that a device caused an individual illness.
For Canadian families and policy-makers, the series broadens the conversation beyond a single daily time limit. It asks what healthy use looks like and how design, evidence and oversight might support it. The report is not individual medical advice; its immediate contribution is to press for a stronger evidence base before broad conclusions are drawn about risk and responsibility.
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