(Yicai Global) Sept. 27 -- China has recognized internet addiction as a major issue facing young people after the World Health Organization classified gaming disorder as a mental health condition on June 17.

China's National Health Commission released a list of new classifications two days ago that includes internet addiction, myopia, obesity, smoking and depression among nine major adolescent problems, Beijing News reported. The agency is also working on web dependence treatment standards and will release these soon, the report added.

Though the rules will form the basis for regulating treatment of the disorder and taking action against illegal practitioners, standards for treating these uncontrollable cravings, though an attempt to address the problem, are not seen as reliable because the concept itself is controversial. 

"There was a fairly widespread concern that this is a diagnosis that doesn't really have a very solid research foundation," said Christopher Ferguson, a psychologist and media researcher at Stetson University in the US state of Florida, USA Today reported on June 18.

The "current research base is not sufficient" to classify the disorder, the Society for Media Psychology and Technology, a division of the American Psychological Association, said in a statement, the report added.

Editor: Ben Armour