They found that closer working distance (less than 25cm), time spent in continuous reading (more than 45 minutes) and other factors like illumination and head tilt were associated with myopia. Below are screen time guidelines for children, along with links to resources to support these important clinical conversations.Ī study of almost 2000 Chinese children of Grade 7 age (mean 12.7 years) evaluated near work parameters and their association with myopia. The American Academy of Paediatrics 4 and the Australian Government Department of Health 5 have clear recommendations which we should encourage parents and children to follow. So when parents ask “just how much screen time is too much" - what should you say? This thankfully drops to 21% in the typically tech-heavy 12-13 year olds. 3 This detrimental impact appears to be highest in younger children - 6 to 7 year olds were five times more likely to be myopic if they had heavy screen use. It has been shown, though, that children who use screens for greater than three hours per day are almost four times more likely to be myopic compared to those spending one hour on screens per day. Science is still illuminating the exact nature of the link between screen time, near work and myopia - see the links below for more reading. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Paediatrics suggested 47% of children were spending more than two hours a day on screen time for entertainment, 1 and by 2019 that number had skyrocketed to 98% in the US. Not only are we using screens for education or work, but we are using them for recreation and family connection too. There is no escaping screen time in today's world, and the COVID-19 pandemic has seen children inside and undertaking screen based learning more than ever before.
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