Kids’ memory problem

November 8, 2025

Do your kids have memory problems?

Wireless radiation may be contributing.

New research from Sweden has shown a worrying link between the use of wireless devices and a dramatic increase in children’s memory and cognitive problems.

Mona Nilsson and Professor Lennart Hardell began by investigating the incidence of diagnosed memory problems and cognitive impairment in children aged 5 to 19 living in Norway and Sweden.

Their results showed a ‘very disturbing trend of a rapidly increasing number of children and teenagers consulting medical care for memory problems or diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, in particular over the last five to 14 years in Norway and Sweden.’

  • They found that in Norway, for each 100,000 thousand people, there were less than 200 consultations for memory problems in 2006 but by 2024, that number had risen to over 1500. That’s 8.5 times more than in 2006.

     

  • They found that in Sweden, for each 100,000 people, there was less than 1 person with mild cognitive impairment in 2006, but by 2024, the number had risen to over 51.

     

This period coincides with the rapid increase of technologies emitting wireless (radiofrequency/RF) radiation and consequent exposure of young people. Sweden saw the following influx of wireless technologies:

  • 2008, introduction of iPhone smartphones

     

  • 2009, introduction of 4G

     

  • 2010, introduction of tablets and iPads, increasing use of wireless devices in schools

     

  • 2016, introduction of 4G+

     

  • 2017, introduction of airpods

     

  • 2019, introduction of 5G.

     

As a result, children were spending more and more time using wireless devices. ‘In 2022 more than 70% of Swedish children aged 15 years used a mobile phone more than 3 hours per day while among children aged 12 years more than 40% used a mobile phone more than 3 hours per day,’ the authors said.

Another cause of the increased exposure was the introduction of 5G.

The authors explain, ‘In our series of case studies we documented that the radiation levels from 5G increased more than 100 times compared with the exposure from previous generations of mobile phone technology, 3G and 4G [1-9]. We also documented that people who had tolerated exposure from 3G and 4G, rapidly developed microwave syndrome symptoms, including memory decline, shortly after 5G was deployed near their dwellings. Loss of immediate memory and concentration/attention deficiency were among the ten most common and worst graded symptoms among the 16 studied persons.’

The researchers referred to a wide body of research showing that wireless radiation had harmful effects on memory.

  • In the 1960s and 70s, scientists showed that workers and embassy staff exposed to RF radiation had adverse symptoms, including memory and attention problems, and the nervous system and brain were especially affected.

     

  • Studies show people living near mobile phone base stations had more memory and attention problems.

     

  • Children and teens using mobile phones had decreased memory.

     

  • Rats showed declines in memory after exposure to RF radiation.

     

  • Animals exposed to RF radiation had damage to the hippocampus, which is responsible for short- and long-term memory and cognitive functions.

     

‘The evidence showing that microwave RF radiation negatively impacts memory and the brain is strong and convincing. The effect has been repeatedly reported in scientific studies on animals and humans for decades. Therefore, the increasing memory problems in children is unfortunately not an unexpected outcome in view of the last 10-20 years rapidly increasing exposure to microwave RF radiation,’ said Mona Nilsson, lead author of the study.

The authors also point out that international (ICNIRP) radiation guidelines, on which Australia’s radiation standard is based, are derived from scientific assumptions that are flawed. ‘These two assumptions (on tissue heating and the putative SAR threshold) have been shown in scientific results during the last two decades to be incorrect’, they said.

In light of the link between memory problems and RF exposure, the authors recommend that authorities pay heed. ‘The public and the public health institutions should pay attention to this emerging health issue and implement protective measures,’ they advised.

Mona Nilsson, Lennart Hardell, Increasing Numbers of Children Aged 5-19 Years with Memory Problems in Sweden and Norway, Archives of Clinical and Biomedical Research, 9 (2025): 431-439. https://fortuneonline.org/abst...

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