EYE TIMER SCREEN COMPUTER PLUS
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The 20-20-20 rule - looking at least 20 feet in the distance for 20 seconds every 20 minutes spent on the screen - is key, and should be included as part of the curriculum in online schooling. The good news: There are easy steps people can take to protect and heal their eyes. One survey by researchers in India found that 50 percent of children taking online classes had digital eye strain. Not surprisingly, the spike in screen time we’ve seen with Covid is accompanied by reports of more digital eye strain around the world. The more time you spend reading on a screen, the more at risk you are. If uncorrected, myopia (or its cousin, farsightedness) can contribute to another eye problem directly related to screen time: computer vision syndrome, also known as digital eye strain, marked by blurred vision, dry eyes and neck and shoulder pain.

Technology Polymers promise a more flexible artificial retina Myopia is more than an inconvenience: It can be costly to correct (requiring regular eye exams and glasses or contact lenses), and people with severe nearsightedness are at higher risk for additional conditions such as retinal tears, cataracts and macular degeneration, which may threaten their eyesight altogether. It’s a particular issue for elementary school-aged children, whose eyes may be especially susceptible to developing myopia. I suspect that myopia rates are increasing in other countries that don’t monitor eye health as closely as China does. Among six-year-olds, the rate of myopia following lockdown was 21.5 percent before Covid, the highest yearly rate in that age group since 2015 was 5.7 percent. And troubling trends are emerging: A January study of more than 120,000 children in China found that the rate of myopia (nearsightedness, or trouble seeing things at a distance) among children ages six to eight increased markedly during a home confinement period, when schools closed from January through May due to Covid-19. This isn’t the case in China, where I spend a lot of my time - there, eye health is more closely watched, particularly in children. In the US and other countries, monitoring eye health isn’t a major public health priority, particularly when in the grips of a pandemic.

EYE TIMER SCREEN COMPUTER SERIES

More from Reset - An ongoing series exploring how the world is navigating the coronavirus pandemic, its consequences and the way forward.Īs a scientist who has dedicated a lot of my career to studying the visual system and protecting the human eye, I am worried.

EYE TIMER SCREEN COMPUTER PLUS

That strain, plus the extensive close-up work that online school requires, may lead to eye problems, some of which can last a lifetime. Several aspects - such as viewing angles and screen glare - force our eyes to work harder than they do while studying a printed page. Simply put, our eyes aren’t built to read on screens. But in the US, I think not enough people are considering another potential side effect of living through screens: eye damage. Naturally, there are worries about the effects on physical activity, loneliness and sociological gaps. A survey conducted by Ipsos and the Global Myopia Awareness Coalition found that 44 percent of US children are using electronic devices for over four hours a day, more than double the rate prior to the pandemic.

This is particularly true for children, as many schools shifted from the classroom to the computer. There’s no way around it: Since the pandemic began, people around the world, of all ages, are spending lots more time looking at screens.

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