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Children and mobiles

Having a mobile phone can improve children’s personal safety, as they can maintain contact with their parents and get help in emergencies.

We acknowledge that some parents fear their children’s health may be affected by using mobile phones. We aim to give parents the information they need to make an informed decision. Parents may choose to balance their children’s access to and use of mobile phones with the safety benefits.

There is no scientific evidence to suggest that using a mobile phone poses health risks for adults or children. The guidelines that govern the radio frequency (RF) exposure from mobile phones and base stations are designed to protect all groups, including children. However, there are still some gaps in scientific knowledge, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has prioritised further research into the use of mobile phones by children.

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WHO advice on children and mobile phones
The WHO provides the following advice in its factsheet on mobile telephones and their base stations. "Present scientific evidence does not indicate the need for any special precautions for the use of mobile phones. If individuals are concerned, they might choose to limit their own or their children's RF exposure by limiting the length of calls, or by using "hands-free" devices to keep mobile phones away from the head and body."
 

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UK Government advice on children and mobile phones
The UK Government recommends limiting children’s use of mobile phones as a precaution. This is because children are still developing and may be more sensitive to RF fields. Their advice is for children to use mobile phones for essential calls only, and to keep calls short.
 

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The Health Council of the Netherlands found in 2002 that:
“It is unlikely from a developmental point of view that major changes in brain sensitivity to electromagnetic fields still occur after the second year of life.” As a result, they believe there is no reason to recommend limiting mobile phone use in children.
 

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In 2007, an independent expert group appointed by the Irish Government published their conclusions and recommendations on RF and health:
“Recent expert analysis has concluded that there are no major effects due to focusing of the RF field in the head or to other properties of a child’s head that might result in higher absorption of RF energy (Christ and Kuster, 2005; Keshvari and Lang, 2005).
“Even though children are using mobile phones at a younger and younger age there are few users under the school age of five. Children tend to use their phones for sending texts rather than voice calls; this reduces their exposure. The use of hands-free kits also reduces exposures but these are not popular among children.
“Three expert groups have reviewed the question of whether there should be restrictions on children using mobile phones. Two have recommended that there should be some restrictions, while one has suggested that it would make no difference. Given this disagreement it seems prudent to suggest that mobile phone use should be limited in younger children. However, there is no specific scientific justification for this advice.”