Increasing Cases of Short-Sightedness Among Children Blamed to Pandemic Screen Time

Hong Kong researchers said that increased screen time and less time spent outside caused an increase in the number of short-sighted children during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Recent research, titled "Myopia Incidence and Lifestyle Changes Among School Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Population-Based Prospective Study," looked at the prevalence of myopia in children aged six to eight in Hong Kong.

While myopia may appear to be a harmless disease, it can lead to other ocular problems and an increased chance of vision loss later in life, according to him.

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Aguemoune, ALGERIA: Young Algerian fans support their star football icon Zinedine Zidane (L) as they view the world Cup final match opposing France vs Italy on a screen in a coffee shop in Aguemoune, 260 kilometers, East of Algiers, 09 July 2006, Zidane's parents home village. Zidane was sent off in the second period of extra-time in the World Cup final.

Children's Screentime Doubled During COVID-19 Lockdown, Causing Nearsightedness

Wales Online said the researchers recruited 709 children between January and August 2020. They followed them for an average of 7.89 months to see if the pandemic had damaged their eyes. The researchers then compared data from 1,084 children in the same age range who had been examined before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

During the pandemic, the overall prevalence of myopia was 26.98 percent, which was more than double the yearly rate of 11.63 percent in the pre-pandemic category.

The scientists also studied how the axial length of the eye - the distance between the cornea and the back of the eye - changed over time. The axial length of children with progressive nearsightedness grows with age, such that the eye appears more oblong than round when viewed in profile. During the pandemic, the yearly estimated change in axial length among children was 0.45 millimeters, compared to 0.28 millimeters in the pre-Covid group.

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During the COVID-19 lockdown, the researchers discovered the dramatic changes in the children's lives, including a 68 percent drop in outdoor time and a 2.8-fold increase in screen time.

Experts Want Children to Spend More Time Outdoors

NBC News said Dr. Tamiesha Frempong, Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary's assistant professor of ophthalmology, believes the study will warn clinicians and parents that many children have spent more time in front of screens less time outdoors.

Frempong has seen several children that are progressing faster than they should be. She advised children to put down their devices and spend more time outside to improve their vision and prevent obesity. She continued that kids should spend at least two hours outside each day.

Dr. Megan Collins, Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's associate professor of ophthalmology, also said in the same NBC News article that the new study shows that the number of children who have developed nearsightedness may have increased significantly.

One issue with children staying at home, according to Collins, is that many do not receive the eye exams that they would receive at school. Squinting, rubbing eyes excessively, and complaints of eyestrain, among other signs, might warn parents that eye issues are developing, she added.

Collins believes that glasses may not be the only answer for some people. She explained that the likelihood of issues like retina detachment and other retinal diseases that might be vision-threatening increases when the eyes get elongated.