Generation Y can’t give up digital screens. However, continuously looking at a screen may cause certain eye problems in children. Elvan Alçın, MD, Op. of Dünyagöz Etiler says that unrecognized eye disorders may develop in children who constantly look at digital screens and such disorders have a negative impact on their social and mental development.
Generation Y can’t give up digital screens. However, continuously looking at a screen may cause certain eye problems in children. Elvan Alçın, MD, Op. of Dünyagöz Etiler says that unrecognized eye disorders may develop in children who constantly look at digital screens and such disorders have a negative impact on their social and mental development.
Digital screens, computers and games are among the leading causes of eye fatigue. Children spend hours with them and don’t consider the fatigue of their eyes. And they don’t complain to their parents about it. The incidence of eye problems increases with age. However, constantly looking at a fixed screen may cause problems in children’s eyes. Occult deviations are one of the most common problems occurring in children who look at a fixed screen for a long time. Long hours of work on a close screen may trigger myopia in children with genetic susceptibility or accelerate its progression. Studies show that working too close to digital screens may cause increased rubbing of the eyes in general, which, in turn, may trigger the development or progression of astigmatism and myopia. Spending too much time in front of a screen means increased eye dryness and allergy, and this causes more rubbing of the eyes.
If your child has an unrecognized refractive error and spends too much time with the computer, occult deviations or pain in the eyes or headache may be experienced. Frequent sties and redness in the eyes may accompany this as well. Dr. Elvan Yalçın says that digital eye fatigue is mostly caused by prolonged focusing on the screen, that children should take a break from the screen every half an hour to avoid possible eye problems, and pre-school children in general should spend one hour a day - at most - on the computer. Dr. Elvan Yalçın also adds, “To protect the eye health of children aged 0-16 years, eye examinations are necessary immediately after birth, at one year of age, between 2-4 years of age when communication is possible and vision can be measured, before starting school and regularly during school life.”
