Homework, video games, computers ruining kids’ eyes
January 18th, 2010 - 1:05 pm ICT by ANIMelbourne, January 18 (ANI): Spending more time inside the house playing video games, computers and doing homework and less time on outdoor activities is taking a toll on children’s eyes, experts have warned.
Brisbane optometrist Kate Johnson pointed out that kids as young as six were sporting glasses due to their indoor lifestyle.
“And it’s happening more in children with no family history of myopia. They spend so much more time in close work with computers and reading doing the damage,” the Courier Mail quoted her as saying.
Johnson recommend that children need to “run outdoors” and look long distance to balance the time spent inside the doors.
QUT myopia researcher Associate Professor Katrina Schmid added: “It’s not simply looking into the distance that prevents myopia, but actually being outside in sunlight.
“Sunlight causes the release of retinal transmitters in high amounts, for example dopamine, and this prevents the eye elongation that long periods spent performing intense ‘near-work’ causes.” (ANI)
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