Battling excessive screen time? Get-out into the great outdoors!

Local optometrist Justin Clunas said that there are ways for parents to protect their children from the impact of excessive screen time.

Electronic devices are now central to our lives — but what are they doing to our vision?

Good news for parents (and all of us) trying to protect our children (and ourselves) from the impact of excessive screen time; there are ways to reduce these effects, local optometrist Justin Clunas said.

“I read somewhere that the iPhone turns 14, in those 14 years everyone — except for dinosaurs that still use flip-phones (humorously referring to this correspondent) — has got one, and we all use them,” he said.

“This means we have gone from looking-out, to looking in…” adding that this exercise of “looking-in” at a screen requires a whole range of visual activities that are quite specific and taxing.

“For us to do something up-close, it is quite a visually-demanding environment… concentrating on a close-distance in a sustained way over an extended period of time,” he added.

It is these issues to do with the way, and how much, we use electronic screens, rather than any inherent issues to do with their electronic emissions, that cause eye problems, Justin explained.

“The screen doesn’t emit a ray or blue light that damages the eye, there is nothing form our screens that is being emitted that is ‘bad’ for our eyes, but it is the amount of time that we are on them.”

“We call it ‘digital eye-strain’, it causes head-aches, glare problems, with your vision often blurry after using these devices,” Justin said.

With few of us enjoying perfect 20-20 vision, this strain adds to any underlying issues that we all tend to have in one form or other with our sight.

“This ‘looking-in’ is so demanding that small problems with your eyes become accentuated with headaches and focussing problems.”

 The result? The world is suffering myopia (short-sightedness) to a far greater extent than in the past.

“Eye problems are becoming more common, it’s bad enough for adults, but for children; it’s a lot more serious, and harder to stop.

“A child’s eye is still developing up to eight–nine years, so putting this strain on a child’s eye has far greater impacts,” Justin said.

“Excessive use of screens under the age of five leads to reduced language development, decreased social skills and an increased likelihood of obesity,” he added.

He said that these impacts are now being felt throughout the world.

“Children who use screens for more than three hours a day are four times more likely to become short-sighted or myopic compared to those who spend one hour a day,” he said.

“We are now going through a myopia epidemic; around 30 percent of people are myopic, by 2050 it is estimated that this figure will be 50 per cent, that will be five billion people requiring glasses,” he added.

Short-sightedness, he added, was not just a case of needing glasses, but had long-term impacts on our vision as we age. “Macular problems can lead to macular problems, cataracts, and eventually losing our vision.”

While the horse has already bolted on the amount of screen times our children have — with most schools introducing tablets in recent years with little regard as to their long-term impacts — there is something that parents can do, and that is, to kick the kids out!

The old parental call of “get-outside and get some fresh air” is still the best visual advice you can get, Justin said.

“We can control myopia and cataract levels by ensuring that our kids spend 90 minutes a day outdoors, we call it ‘greentime versus screen time’,” Justin said.

He said that adults chained to computer terminals can also introduce eye exercises to limit long-term damage.

“Every 20 minutes you are looking at a screen, look away for at least 20 seconds, and never have the screen closer to you than the distance between your fist and your elbow,” he added.

“Sit up straight, this will help your posture as well, and make sure the room and the screen are at a similar illumination. Ohh, and if you have any problems, get your eyes tested!” Justin concluded.