IntroductionThere is little information on the impact of mobile phone overuse (MPO) in areas in need of social transformation (ANST). Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of MPO in an ANST and its association with sleep disorders, academic performance and obesity. Patients and methodsConsecutive sampling of patients aged 10–17 years who visited a primary care centre in an ARST between October 2019 and March 2020. The study involved performance of a clinical interview with collection of anthropometric, sociodemographic, mobile phone use and sleep data. ResultsThe analysis included 214 participants. The prevalence of MPO during weekdays (more than 2 h a day) was 37.5% in children aged 10–12 years and 65.2% in 13- to 17-year-olds; in the weekend, the prevalence increased to 66.6% and 81.3%, respectively. In weekdays, MPO was associated with an increased prevalence of obesity, lower maternal educational attainment, greater difficulty waking up, daytime sleepiness and higher frequency of school failure. The adjusted risk was double for excess weight (odds ratio [OR] 1.90, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.04–3.47), obesity (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.23–4.89) and sleep disorders or sleep duration of less than 7 h (OR 2.26; 95% CI 1.31–3.92). Weekend MPO was associated with sleep disorders or sleep duration of less than 7 h (OR 2.68; 95% CI 1.40–5.11). ConclusionsThe prevalence of mobile phone overuse is high in areas of social exclusion and is associated with sleep disorders, school failure and obesity.