HHS Just Issued a Surgeon General’s Warning Every Parent Needs to See
Kids are now spending more time on screens than sleeping.
This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.
A report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Surgeon General includes a “toolkit that gives parents, schools and communities practical tools to better protect their children and adolescents from growing harms of excessive screen exposures,” said U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released a surgeon general’s report warning against the harms of excessive screen use for children and teens.
The report includes a “toolkit that gives parents, schools and communities practical tools to better protect their children and adolescents from growing harms of excessive screen exposures,” said U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy announced the report’s release at a press conference this afternoon in Gilbert, Iowa, as part of his “Take Back Your Health” tour.
“Children are spending more time on screens than sleeping, exercising, reading, interacting face to face with family and friends,” Kennedy said.
He called excessive screen use one of the “most urgent health challenges facing American children.”
The report, which comes from the surgeon general’s office, even though there is no Senate-confirmed nominee, provides parents with a summary of research on screen use’s impact on kids. It includes recommendations for healthy screen use behavior.
“This is something we should have done for our kids a long time ago,” Kennedy said.
The U.S. surgeon general post has been empty since January 2025, when President Donald Trump took office. Trump originally nominated Dr. Janette Nesheiwat and later Dr. Casey Means, but withdrew both nominations.
On April 30, Trump nominated Dr. Nicole B. Saphier, after Means’ bid had stalled in Congress for months. Earlier this week, Kennedy tapped Stephanie Haridopolos as interim surgeon general until the Senate confirms a nominee.
Lawmakers propose bill for surgeon general to set screen time limits for kids
The surgeon general’s report comes just over a week after federal lawmakers introduced the SMART Kids Act. The bipartisan bill requires the surgeon general to develop recommendations for screen time limits for children based on independent, evidence-based research.
Although the new report does not include formal recommendations, it suggests that families create a “media plan” that “could” include no screen time for children under 18 months, less than 1 hour per day for children under 6, and 2 hours per day for kids ages 6 to 18.
As of press time, it is unclear whether lawmakers are satisfied with today’s report or whether they want the surgeon general to issue more formal guidance.
“Screens are everywhere these days, and we ought to be studying how screen time can impact our kids and their development,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), the bill’s sponsor, in a press release.
Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.), who cosponsored the bill with Deluzio, noted that excessive screen time has been linked with mental health problems and developmental risks.
“Parents deserve clear, evidence-based guidance on the dangers of excessive screen time and how to get kids to unplug,” Houchin said.
Deluzio and Houchin did not immediately respond to The Defender’s request for comment.
Numerous organizations supported the bill, including the American Federation of Teachers, the American Psychological Association, Anxious Generation, Smartphone Free Childhood U.S., and Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, according to the bill’s press release.
The September 2025 MAHA strategy report, which Kennedy called the federal government’s “prescription” for addressing chronic disease in U.S. youth, also called on the surgeon general to launch an “education and awareness” initiative looking at screens’ impact on kids.
The surgeon general should also look into what states are doing to limit school screen time, the report said.
The May 2025 MAHA report, which Kennedy called the “diagnosis” of the U.S. childhood chronic disease epidemic, named increased screen time as contributing to the decline in U.S. kids’ physical and mental health.
Screen time linked to poor cardiometabolic health, sleep problems
Studies have been piling up that attest to screens’ potentially negative effects on kids’ and teens’ physical and mental health.
For instance, an August 2025 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that the more time children spend on screens, the higher their risk factors for cardiometabolic disease, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and insulin resistance.
The authors found that each extra hour of screen time — including watching movies or TV, gaming, and using cellphones, tablets or computers for leisure — increased youths’ overall cardiometabolic risk compared to the average for children their age.
And it wasn’t just because kids who watched screens were less physically active, the authors said. They found that children with higher screen times showed more heart and metabolic symptoms, even when accounting for the amount of time the child was sedentary and the child’s diet.
Screen time appeared to increase kids’ risk via “independent mechanisms,” such as “poor stress regulation and high sympathetic arousal,” the authors wrote in their report.
Research has also linked screen use to sleeping problems.
An October 2025 Journal of Pediatric Health Care review of over 30 studies found that kids and teens who spent prolonged time on screens before bedtime took longer to fall asleep, slept for shorter periods and had more interrupted sleep.
The studies especially linked social media and video games to higher risks of insomnia and daytime sleepiness.
Screen addiction linked to increased suicide risk
A June 2025 Journal of the American Medical Association study found that children who addictively used social media or cellphones were two to three times more likely to report suicidal ideation or behavior than their peers.
However, screen time alone didn’t predict mental health issues, according to Yunyu Xiao, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medical College and the study’s lead author.
“It is not the total amount of time spent on screens that predicts suicide-related behaviors or mental health issues,” Xiao told The Defender in an earlier interview. “Instead, it’s the quality and emotional dependence on screen use — not the quantity — that matters most.”
The MAHA strategy report called on the National Institutes of Health to fund mental health and addiction research focused on kids and teens’ screen time use.
Screen time also exposes kids to wireless radiation
Miriam Eckenfels, director of Children’s Health Defense’s Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless Program, said screen time also exposes children to EMR — which has its own neurological and behavioral impacts.
“Each is harmful, together they are compounding,” Eckenfels said.
She cited a recent peer-reviewed study that showed holding a cellphone next to a healthy woman’s body caused her blood to abnormally clump up, even when the cellphone was an inch from her skin.
“Another recent study linked increased feelings of aggression, anger and hallucinations among teens in the U.S. and India to the progressively younger age at which children are acquiring cellphones,” Eckenfels said.
Related articles in The Defender
Kids’ Sleeping Problems Linked to Wireless Radiation, Screens
Screen Time Increases Kids’ Risk of High Blood Pressure, Insulin Resistance
‘Addictive Use’ of Screens Linked to Higher Risk of Suicide in Kids, Study Finds
MAHA Commission Outlines Sweeping Agenda to Target Chronic Disease
Social Media Poses ‘Profound Risk’ to Kids’ Mental Health, Surgeon General Warns
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