Screens and children: a dangerous relationship
Digital natives no longer reach the world with a silver spoon in their mouths, but rather with a mobile device to which they are permanently connected. Today’s children spend more time than ever in front of smart phones, tablets, televisions or computers; in short, in front of a screen. And this can have disastrous consequences for their health, including their eye health.
The abusive or uncontrolled use of electronic devices increases the risk of suffering from myopia in children. When looking at a mobile phone or a tablet, the central vision is focalised a great deal and this can cause visual strain, blurry vision or stimulate the appearance of myopia.
In this sense, according to a survey by the Official College of Opticians and Optometrists of Catalonia, around 30% of children under the age of 8 years use the mobile phone on a daily basis, meaning that their myopia graduation has increased by 1.75 dioptres over the past five years. Preventing myopia is also important because it is related to failure at school. Even more so, after such a strange school year. Owing to the Covid-19 crisis, this year a transformation in learning methods has been adopted, particularly for teenagers, who have studied virtual classes from home.
The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends that up to the age of 2 years, children should not be exposed to any screens and from 2 to 5 years of age, they should not spend more than one and a half hours in front of a device. Encouraging other types of more creative activities, with social interaction and outdoors, is much healthier for everyone. From the age of 7 years, adults must pay special attention, particularly to the content that children have access to and they must continue to not exceed this hour and a half of digital consumption.
In some cases, parents must resort to timetables and rules that establish the amount of hours in front of a screen. The last recommendation for teenagers is for there to be no screens in their bedrooms.
To prevent screen abuse for children
1.- Parents must supervise the time (and the content) in front of screens. The digital world must not interfere with the child’s sleep patterns and it also must not deprive the child of any physical exercise and active playing.
2.- Frequent rest periods must be taken. Getting up and walking around, moving the body and looking away from the screen.
3.- Parents must transmit that this overuse can be harmful for the child’s health and propose and teach healthy habits, such as spending time in the open air.
4.- Children have a clear model to imitate: their parents. Therefore, they must lead by example.
