Alternative Health Blog

Not LOL: Texting Can be Hazardous to Your Health

Published: March 07, 2009

Say what you want about text messaging—and there are plenty of opinions out there—but there is no question that it can be hazardous to your health. It’s not science-based, yet here is an association you can try on for size. The less you practice common sense, the more thumbing on your Blackberry will put you at potential peril.

Here’s why. A recent survey commissioned by Neverfail, an Austin, Texas-based business software company, shows that among other bad ideas 77 percent of people have “sent or received emails while driving a moving car. ” The poll of 148 people was conducted by a Washington, D.C., research firm. The sample size dictates a margin of error up to five percent points. So it is conservative to report that the percentage might be close to 72 total or seven of 10 people.

Holy roaming charge.

Similarly, the AAA motorist and travel group reported in a 2007 survey “nearly half” of all teens have texted while driving.

If you are shaking your head, there’s more. Four of 10 people said they have used their mobile phones and devices while enjoying an active outdoor activity, including biking, skiing or riding a horse (!).

To that end, the American College of Emergency Medicine released a statement earlier this year to warn people not to text message while “walking, skating, riding a bicycle or driving.” Its rationale is that member doctors are “noticing a rise in injuries and deaths related to sending text messages at inappropriate times.”

There’s one more portion of this texting survey that is disturbing even if it’s not causing a direct health threat. More than a third of the adults in the survey reported text messaging during a graduation ceremony, while 18 percent said engaging in the same activity during a wedding and 16 percent during a funeral. These instances might not be hazardous to your health, but they do nothing for your human relationships.

And that most decidedly is not healthy.

Bob Condor blogs for Alternative Health Journal every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

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