India, July 25 -- Early exposure to social media comes with significant downsides. Without the maturity to process what they see or the filters to shield them from harmful content, children are vulnerable to mental health challenges and unhealthy body image issues. Also read | New research shows reducing screen time drastically improves your child's mental wellbeing in just 2 weeks

In a new study published in Journal of Human Development and Capabilities on July 20, researchers analysed data from more than 100,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, to understand how social media usage can affect children below the age of 13.

The questionnaires to the participants asked questions to understand the mental health outcomes of socia...