x
  • Bookmark and ShareShare
  • Earn Points
    What's this?
Cell phone use while pregnant = naughty kids?
New study finds links between cell phone use during pregnancy to child's future behavior.
Wed, Dec 08 2010 at 6:26 AM

Related Topics:

Healthy Living, Technology
Cell phones and pregnancy

Photo: look up/stock.xchnge

Ask any parent and they'll tell you that one sure way to get a perfectly quiet child to start screaming is to make a phone call — preferably an important business call. We all know that kids act up when we're on the phone, but is it possible that the phone itself is somehow responsible for that bad behavior in the first place?
 
A controversial new study published recently in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found evidence that when pregnant women use cell phones regularly, their children are more likely to have behavioral problems.
 
To be clear, the study does not say that cell phone use causes behavioral problems in children, but the researchers compared data and found that women who used cell phones during pregnancy were more likely to have children with behavioral problems down the road.
 
Dr. Leeka Kheifets, an epidemiologist at the University of California Los Angeles, led the study. She and her research team looked at data from 28,000 7-year-olds and their mothers who took part in a larger Danish study tracking 100,000 women who were pregnant between 1996 and 2002.
 
In the data overall, the mothers of about 3 percent of the children said their children had borderline behavioral problems. The children whose mothers used cell phones while pregnant and who also used the phones themselves were 50 percent more likely to have behavioral problems. 
 
There are lots of ways that this data could be interpreted. For instance, maybe the moms who spent the most time on the phone while pregnant were also the moms who were inattentive to their kids after they were born, leading to episodes of "acting out" that are seen as behavioral problems. Or maybe the moms who were on the phone a lot were more attentive to detail, reporting temper tantrums and fits as "abnormal" behavior that another mom might not report.
 
Or maybe, just maybe, the radio frequency radiation affects the in utero development of a baby.  If it's even remotely possible, it's certainly worth checking out.
 

The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.

You might also like:

Join the conversation

Comment: 1
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
anonymous
John Walls Dec 10 2010 at 10:13 AM
Some people may be concerned that the radio frequency (RF) waves from cell phones will cause cancer or other serious health hazards. CTIA–The Wireless Association®, which represents the U.S. wireless industry, would like you to know that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website (http://bit.ly/Nb97x) states that “[t]he scientific evidence does not show a danger to any users of cell phones from RF exposure, including children and teenagers.” To read more about what the FDA has to
.... More
say about cell phone health issues, go to http://bit.ly/sER7w. In addition, CTIA has developed a website that provides research and scientific information from around the world on cell phone health issues. Please visit: http://www.cellphonehealthfacts.com By: John Walls, Vice President of Public Affairs for CTIA
|

EDITORS' PICKS

tease AnoNuevo

line

tease cars

line

tease fitness story

Advertisement

NEWSLETTER

Mother Nature. Delivered
Advertisement