How To Prevent Mobile Phones From Damaging Children’s Eyesight
Children spend too much time with mobile phones, tablets and consoles. The consequence is that the incidence of myopia increases.
Nearsightedness in children and adolescents is 50% related to their lifestyle, according to Professor Bettina Wabbels, head of the department of pediatric ophthalmology at the Bonn University Clinic.
The screens of mobiles, tablets and computers keep children’s eyes focused at a close distance and concentrated in a narrow field of vision. In children under 3 years of age the effect is especially severe. The eyeball lengthens and when it grows in this way it will no longer shrink.
Screens are increasing cases of myopia among children
In Germany, half of young boys already wear glasses. In many Asian countries the proportion has already reached a staggering 95%. Myopia not only involves the use of glasses or contact lenses for life, but also increases the risk of suffering from retinal diseases and cataracts.
The recommendations of Wabbels are clear:
- Up to 3 years a child should never look at a screen.
- Up to 6 years of age, a maximum of 30 minutes a day is recommended .
- Up to 10 years, no more than one hour.
- Between 11 and 18, two hours.
In addition to the time spent watching the screens, another factor that influences the eyes is distance. As a general rule, the closer the screen is, the worse. For this reason, mobile phones and tablets are more harmful than television.
Myopia is not the only problem caused by new technologies.
When young children frequently play with their mobile, tablet or console, not only the eye suffers. Your sensory and cognitive experience during that time is very limited. They are in a predesigned two-dimensional world. In that world the development of their spatial capacity and imaginative capacity suffers.
On the other hand, the constant switch between closer and more distant vision enhances blurred vision and squinting. To all this is added eye irritation and dry eye.
The blue light takes away the dream
The LED technology in the displays emits blue light that inhibits the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone and night-time regeneration. Experts recommend not looking at the screens in the two hours before sleeping and that we put them in night mode. These recommendations apply to both children and adults.
In the background, the screens are like candy. Children like them very much, who do not set limits for themselves, so parents must establish them. Phones, tablets and consoles should be within the reach of children only for a limited time. The rest of the day they have the outdoors and other games to learn to live.
