The NHS should provide social media and technology addiction counselling, a leading psychiatrist as said as he called for the growing problem to be classed as a public health issue.

Dr Richard Graham, a consultant in adolescent psychiatry at Nightingale Hospital, London, warned that the rapid proliferation technology, from social media to smartphones, had resulted in an increasing number of teenagers being diagnosed with gaming disorders or addiction.

It comes after MPs, mental health experts and charities backed The Telegraph’s Duty of Care campaign to impose a legal duty on firms to safeguard children’s well-being and welfare online.

Dr Graham said that during his career, technology had transformed from a small-scale distraction in youngsters lives into a serious health problem which disrupts sleeping, changes diet and reduces the activity levels of those consumed by it.

“This is now a public health matter,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “When I started out it was much more about how the technology was disrupting a young person’s life chances, particularly through education, missing out on opportunities there.

“But now I think we’re seeing greater and greater use, which is disrupting sleep, affecting diet and activity levels. And so many of the public health concerns of our day are intertwined by the use of technology.”