Parents Rank Social Media and Screen Time as Top 2025 Child Health Concerns - Here’s the Strategy Signal

American parents just put social media use and screen time near the top of their 2025 child health worries, per the latest C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital poll surveying families with kids ages 1–18. The study also probed concerns like bullying, internet safety, lack of physical activity, parental stress, and diet-underscoring that online habits are now seen alongside long-standing wellbeing issues. The key takeaway here: this is sentiment, not a new rulebook. But in brand and platform land, perception drives policy pressure, advertising scrutiny, and creative norms.

What this means for creators and marketers: content that normalizes “always-on” behaviors will read differently to parents-and to platforms eager to demonstrate responsibility. Worth noting for brands, family-safe placements and contexts matter more than ever. Audit teen-adjacent assets for tone (dopamine-first hooks, doom-scroll tropes) and ensure safety features are fully enabled: comment controls, content suitability settings, and restricted placements where available. If you market to parents, emphasize digital literacy, balance, and wellbeing without veering into fear-mongering. For creator partnerships, prioritize talent with transparent community guidelines and a track record of moderating youth audiences responsibly.

The bigger picture: platforms already compete on youth safety features; this data point strengthens that trajectory. Expect increased visibility for parental controls, time-management nudges, and education hubs-changes that can reduce teen impressions and shift daypart performance. What’s actually changing for strategy isn’t the algorithm overnight, but the brand-safety bar. Build plans that don’t rely on teen time-spent growth, diversify into parent-focused messaging, and measure beyond raw watch time (e.g., qualified reach in brand-suitable contexts). The sentiment is clear; aligning creative and buying practices with wellbeing narratives is now table stakes, not a nice-to-have.