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Obesity policies continue to focus almost exclusively on food: food composition, labelling, taxation and marketing. But while we regulate what is on our plates, we overlook an equally profound environmental change: the explosion of time spent in front of screens. The concept of Ultra-Scrolling Social (USS) offers a new lens: considering digital environments as emerging determinants of energy balance and cardiovascular risk.

USS: What Does It Mean?

The idea is simple: just as we talk about obesogenic food environments, today we must also begin to recognise the role of obesogenic digital environments.

Ultra-Scrolling Social (USS) was conceived as a scientific provocation aimed at drawing attention to the role of the digital environment in the reduction of daily movement and in the growing energy imbalance—factors that public health policies still tend to underestimate.

USS is not a clinical or diagnostic category, but rather an analytical lens proposed to describe and make visible specific patterns of digital consumption characterized by:

• continuous and prolonged exposure to digital content;
• loss of control over time spent using digital platforms;
• systematic reduction of spontaneous movement;
• disruption of sleep and circadian rhythms;
• intermittent and persistent dopaminergic stimulation;
• displacement of physical interactions and activities with high cognitive value.

What Does the Science Say?

Over the past decade, numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have found a consistent association between screen time and overweight or obesity, particularly among children and adolescents. In these cases, the increased risk is not only explained by reduced physical activity, but also by loss of control over time, fragmentation of attention and forms of ‘distracted’ food consumption, often accompanied by a reduction in the duration and quality of sleep. Overall, a clear picture emerges: screen time is not simply passive behaviour, but an environmental factor capable of altering energy balance.

From Prohibition To Individual Responsibility

The aim is not to propose new bans or taxes, as is being done for nutrition. The point is to highlight an inconsistency in public policy: we are increasingly regulating what we eat, while what captures our time, immobilises our bodies and shapes our behaviour remains almost unregulated.

A credible cardiovascular prevention strategy can no longer ignore the role of digital environments. Policies are needed that strengthen skills, awareness and individual responsibility, recognising that energy balance depends not only on what we eat but also on how much we move.

The argument is not to find a new culprit to regulate. Like food, social media can also be part of a balanced lifestyle. The key is moderation.

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