Optometrists have seen a dramatic jump in the number of children suffering from dry eyes and too much screen time could be to blame.
Dry eye, which happens when the eye does not produce enough tears to lubricate it, typically occurs in adults in their 50s and 60s, by eye doctors are now seeing patients as young as 10 with the condition.
And while there are no studies to show exact figures, Canadian optometrists have reported a rise anecdotally.
鈥淭here was a that looked at this very issue and they鈥檙e finding that when kids are using their electronic devices they鈥檙e typically staring at them so the blink pattern becomes less frequent, their blinks are less complete,鈥� optometrist Dr. Joseph Chan told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning.
鈥淎nd so we are seeing a rise in symptoms related to dry eye in children and they鈥檙e coming into the office a little bit more regularly than they should be.鈥�
Symptoms of dry eye include occasional feelings of dryness, itchiness, irritation or fatigue.
鈥淭he things that you need to watch out for in children are symptoms like gritty eyes, sandy tired eyes, if your child is rubbing their eyes a lot, if they鈥檙e complaining of soreness,鈥� Dr. Chan said.
鈥淭hese are the kind of indicators that there might be a larger issue, particularly with dry eye.鈥�
Chronic dry eye can lead to damage to the surface of the eye and reduced productivity.
鈥淲hen their (kids) eyes are fatigued, when they鈥檙e tired, they鈥檙e not able to do their homework and perhaps their performance in school can be affected as well,鈥� Dr. Chan said.
If untreated, it can lead to issues ranging from constant discomfort to vision impairment.
The Canadian Association of Optometrists has screen time guidelines for children.
The association recommends no screen time at all for newborns to two years old, with the exception of video chats for the potential for social development.
Kids aged two to five should spend no more than one hour per day of educational and supervised viewing and children aged five to 18 should spend no more than two hours per day on recreational screen time.
鈥淥ne of the first thing parents should be considering is taking their children to a doctor of optometry to make sure there鈥檚 no underlying eye issues,鈥� Dr. Chan said.
He also recommended the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes the child should take a screen break and stare at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
Using bigger screens, further away is better for the eyes.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e looking at a screen that鈥檚 closer the eyes have to come together which creates even more effort for the eyes,鈥� Dr. Chan said.
