These shocking X-rays show teenagers and children as young as seven developing hunchbacks and abnormally curved spines because of an addiction to smartphones. 

A leading Australian chiropractor has warned that ‘text neck’ – a condition often brought on by bending over phones and tablets for several hours at a time – is becoming an epidemic.

Dr James Carter, based in Niagara Park, on the NSW Central Coast, said the relatively new condition can lead to anxiety and ­depression as well as spinal damage.

He revealed he had seen an ‘alarming increase’ in the number of patients with the condition over the past few years and said 50 per cent of them are school-age teenagers.