L’AltraVoce Il Quotidiano published an op-ed by Pietro Paganini exploring the link between social media, digital addiction and health. As Europe considers age restrictions and challenges Facebook and Instagram over design features that may encourage compulsive use, a contradiction is emerging: public health policies classify foods through labels and warnings, yet largely overlook how “ultra-scrolling” affects physical activity, sleep, eating habits and cardiometabolic health. Bans alone are not enough. Europe needs stronger digital education, more transparent algorithms and shared responsibility among platforms, families and institutions.
The full article is available in the print edition of L’AltraVoce Il Quotidiano. Below is a brief summary.
Key Messages
- Digital addiction also affects physical health: excessive social media use reduces physical activity, disrupts sleep and encourages distracted eating, with consequences for metabolic and cardiovascular health.
- Public health policies focus on the plate but overlook the screen: while foods are classified through labels and warnings, the evidence linking “ultra-scrolling” to harmful changes in everyday behaviour is becoming increasingly clear.
- Bans alone are not enough: age restrictions for minors must be accompanied by digital education, greater algorithmic transparency and shared responsibility among platforms, families and institutions.
Food Labels, But Few Questions About Digital Design
We warn consumers about sugar and fat. We debate food labels, taxes, advertising restrictions and reformulation. Yet digital environments face far less scrutiny.
Energy balance depends not only on what we eat, but also on how much we move. Excessive social media use can replace physical activity with sedentary scrolling, disrupt sleep and encourage distracted eating.
Evidence increasingly links excessive screen time with less movement and poorer cardiometabolic health. Even regular exercise may not offset a day spent largely sitting in front of a screen.
Public health is becoming increasingly precise about what enters the body, while overlooking what the body no longer does.
From Ultra-Processed Food to Ultra-Scrolling
This contradiction inspired the deliberately provocative concept of Ultra-Scrolling Social (USS).
Ultra-scrolling describes platforms designed to prolong engagement through endless feeds, autoplay, personalised recommendations and intermittent rewards, gradually displacing movement, sleep and real-world interaction.
USS is not a medical diagnosis or a call for another warning label. It raises a simple question: if food environments shape behaviour, why do policymakers regulate them so extensively while paying far less attention to digital design?
Digital addiction is not only psychological. It can also affect physical, metabolic and cardiovascular health, a dimension still largely missing from prevention policies.
Bans Can Protect, but They Cannot Educate
Age restrictions may help protect minors, but they cannot solve the problem alone. Verification is difficult, limits can be circumvented and young people may move to less secure platforms.
Social media also creates powerful network effects. When every friend is online, staying away can feel like exclusion. Constant, rapid rewards make slower activities, reading, exercising, talking or simply thinking, less attractive.
Restrictions must therefore be accompanied by digital education, real breaks, protective settings for minors and greater transparency about how platforms capture attention. Responsibility must be shared among platforms, families and institutions.
Europe should not transfer to the screen the same simplistic logic of labels and classifications applied to food. It needs a smarter approach: protect when necessary, educate consistently and hold platforms accountable.
It is time to broaden the public health debate, from the plate to the screen.