The US Surgeon General has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms detailing the effects on young people's lives.

The warnings would be similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes.

The announcement comes after the Surgeon General voiced major concerns that social media is associated with a growing mental health crisis among teenagers in an opinion piece in the New York Times.

But is this feasible and is it enough to improve children and teens mental health?

To discuss more on the topic, I'm joined by chief of Adolescent medicine at Saint Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson, Dr. Jennifer Chuang.

Dr. Chuang thanks for being with us.

Sure of course.

Thank you for having me here.

You know, the US surgeon general in a recent op ed said that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.

Do you agree with this assessment?

Yes, we have definitely been concerned about social media impact on children and teenagers for quite some time.

And certainly the surgeon general has been bringing this as a concern for the last couple of years.

But certainly bringing it much to the hallmark of our concern for her over the last year, including this week.

You know, in your work, what have you seen in terms of the impact of social media on adolescents?

Well, I think right now the reality is after social media has been around for two decades now, we know it's not going away.

So we do know it's a part of our lives, but we do need to be more cognizant about how it's affecting our lives.

All of us adults as well as children.

The things that I worry about with kids is the amount of time that kids are on social media, the scrolling nature of it, the algorithm that that brings people in.

And at this age, we really do worry about brains developing.

And we do see that for kids who are on social media for a prolonged period of time, like reports say over 3 hours, that those kids really do report more loneliness symptoms of depression and anxiety.

I definitely see in my practice lots of concerns about body image issues and concerns about disordered eating behaviors as well.

You know, like warning labels we see on cigarette packages, he is asking Congress to require a surgeon general's warning label on all social media platforms.

Is this idea feasible?

Well, I think if it's been feasible both for tobacco and alcohol products, then I think it's feasible for social media as well.

I think it takes all of us to be engaged in how to protect our kids, how to protect ourselves as well.

Listen, I have two little girls as a parent, Some of this content on these platforms is really frightening.

I mean, that we know that getting a warning label like this could take time.

So what should I be doing other parents be doing in the meantime?

I think we should all be aware about what our kids are accessing on these sites.

Certainly it would be nice if we could all oversee the types of sites that our kids are on, but I know that it's hard to be covering 24/7.

So I do think it's really important for us to educate our kids about why we're concerned.

Tell them about the addictive nature, about allow a lot of these social media platforms.

Why are these sites sucking our kids?

And and why is it hard to come off of the platforms and to really discuss with them what do they see amongst their peers?

Is it really helping them?

They might initially get on the platform to connect with their peers, but are they seeing more negative effects again, like the signs of loneliness, depression?

And I think as we talk about the concerns about social media, this is another reason to talk about those topics.

Absolutely.

Dr. Chuang thank you so much for joining me.

Of course.

Again, thank you for having me.