So many kids today are nearsighted. Is the villain… Candy Crush?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Facebook, Youtube, Fruit Ninja – everyone seems to be glued to their screens these days, especially the kids! Is all this screen time hurting children’s eyesight?
Po-Wen Ku and colleagues from Taiwan and London decided to SEE for themselves. They monitored nearsightedness in about two thousand kids in Taiwan. The team studied how reading, screen time, and tutoring affected children’s eyesight over four years.
A PEEK into the results? The team found that reading and computer use did NOT appear to contribute to nearsightedness! But, more time spent in tutoring or doing other close up work did. Researchers believe that kids who were being tutored spend less time outside, giving their eyes less breaks! Constant up-close schoolwork up leaves little time for their vision to rest.
The researchers suggest more breaks and time outside could help prevent nearsightedness.
In that case, anyone want to go for a stroll outside? Or climb a tree? And no, there’s isn’t an app for that!