Is All This Screen Time Bad for Students’ Eyes?
2020 was a year of change and firsts, and it spilled over into 2021. One relevant concern for many parents is that their children are now looking at screens more than any students in the history of mankind. So… is that bad? Are there any risks? Does it hurt their eyes? We are in the early stages of learning the ramifications of excessive screen time, but here is what we know so far.
The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a study on the progression of myopia (nearsighted prescription) after COVID-19 home confinement. They found a significant increase in myopia in children 6 to 8 years old. Myopic children showed an increase in their glasses prescription, and the prevalence of myopia increased ~1.4 to 3 times higher in 2020 than the previous 5 years. This adds to what eye care providers already knew; increased time of near vision tasks is correlated with deteriorating distance vision. The solution is myopia management treatment. Our practice uses the FDA-approved MiSight contact lens that is specially designed to limit or halt the progression of myopia. This can help limit reliance on lenses and significantly lower chances of eye diseases like glaucoma, myopic maculopathy, and retinal detachment. For kids whose prescriptions keep getting stronger, MiSight contact lenses are a great solution rather than just stronger glasses and contacts every year.
Increased screen time has also exacerbated symptoms of convergence insufficiency, a visual condition of under-developed ability to turn both eyes inward onto a near target. Looking far away allows the eyes to straighten and relax. When viewing computers and reading material, our eye muscles flex and work to turn the eyes inward. About 10% of people suffer from convergence insufficiency, and their symptoms during reading and screen time include headaches, eyestrain, visual fatigue, and decreased reading ability. They are essentially working much harder to do something that should be fairly easy. Vigorous evidence-based research has consistently proven the only effective way to treat convergence insufficiency is optometric vision therapy. Convergence insufficiency is the most common condition our practice treats, and the goal is to develop permanent neurological pathways to teach the eyes to turn inward onto the page/screen comfortably and efficiently.
Computer screens and reading are not going anywhere, nor should they. The human eye is facing a challenge different from the hundreds and thousands of years before literacy and school, then computers, became prevalent. Considering ~45% of school-aged children are nearsighted and ~10% of people have convergence insufficiency that interferes with reading ability, more than half of all students are struggling with their reading and computer vision. Fortunately, optometry is meeting this challenge. To find a myopia management optometrist, visit coopervision.com Find a Provider (check filter – Pediatric Nearsightedness Management). To find an optometrist specializing in vision therapy, visit covd.org Locate a Doctor.