Myopia develops when the eyeball is too lengthy or the cornea (the clear front surface of the eye) is overly curved. As a result, light entering the eye is not properly focused, and distant things appear blurry. Nearly 30% of the population in the United States suffers from myopia. While the precise origin of myopia is unknown, there is substantial evidence that many people inherit myopia, or at least the proclivity to acquire myopia.
A new study published in one of the world’s most prestigious medical publications has found a link between screen usage and an increased risk and severity of myopia, or short-sightedness, in children and young adults.
When we spend more time focused on close items, such as phones, screens, or even paperbacks, our eyeballs lengthen, preventing the eye from bending light as it should. This elongation promotes myopia, or nearsightedness, which causes distant things to look blurry. Myopia affects half of all young adults in the United States, which is twice as many as it was 50 years ago and more than 40% of the population.
This study comes at a time when our children are spending more time than ever looking at screens for extended periods of time owing to school closures, and it is evident that additional research is needed to better understand how digital device exposure can impair our eyes and vision.
Professor Rupert Bourne
The open-access study, published this week in The Lancet Digital Health, was conducted by researchers and eye health experts from Singapore, Australia, China, and the United Kingdom, including Anglia Ruskin University’s Professor Rupert Bourne (ARU). The researchers looked at over 3,000 studies on smart device exposure and myopia in children and young adults aged 3 months to 33 years old.
After analyzing and statistically integrating the available studies, the authors discovered that excessive smart device screen time, such as staring at a cell phone, is related with a 30% increased risk of myopia, and when combined with excessive computer use, that risk increased to nearly 80%.
The study comes as millions of students throughout the world have spent significant time using remote learning methods as a result of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Around half of the global population is anticipated to have myopia by 2050, so it is a health risk that is growing swiftly,” said Professor Bourne, Professor of Ophthalmology in the Vision and Eye Research Institute at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). Our study is the most extensive on the subject to date, and it reveals a possible link between screen usage and myopia in young people.
“This study comes at a time when our children are spending more time than ever looking at screens for extended periods of time owing to school closures, and it is evident that additional research is needed to better understand how digital device exposure can impair our eyes and vision. We also know that people overestimate their own screen time, so future research should utilize objective measurements to collect this data.”
This isn’t simply a problem in the West. Although there is a genetic component to this, it is apparent that behavior accelerates the transformation. Poor vision can lead to poor work efficiency and a significant loss of production – think money – for global corporations. That’s why countries like China are so concerned about it that they’ve already overhauled their school system, limiting how long kids may study – even offering extra tutoring – in order to reduce the near-work that worsens myopia. Miller believes that the United States should follow suit.
Each youngster now wears new FDA-approved contact lenses that effectively restructure the eye to halt the progression of myopia. However, most parents and their children are unaware of the problem.
These issues affect adults as well. Constant connection can cause high or degenerative myopia, which is severe nearsightedness that worsens over time and can lead to cataracts, glaucoma, and retinal detachment – because the eyeball stretches and the retina thins – but this is uncommon. The risk increases with age and can hasten the gradual loss of the eye’s capacity to focus, known as presbyopia.
Screen use can also disrupt children’s sleep. To begin with, the thrilling content of many electronic games and movies might agitate a youngster when they should be settling down for bed or a nap. Second, studies demonstrate that using computers and comparable gadgets in the evening disrupts the brain’s sleep rhythms. The brain interprets the screen light as “daytime,” causing the body’s circadian rhythm to change.
To protect your child’s eyes during screen time, a better option is to practice regular, healthy practices. When it comes to sleep, the greatest thing you can do is minimize your screen use, especially in the hours before night. Aim for one hour without using any devices or screens before going to bed.
