KID SPECIAL................... Phones, tablets are giving your kids glasses

Phones, tablets are giving your kids glasses 
 

MUMBAI: The extensive use of mobile phones and tablets is causing an increase in vision problems among children, say eye doctors.

A survey of 2,500 children from three city schools showed that 13% of them had refractive errors, a condition which requires them to wear spectacles. A majority of the children, who were between six and 16 years, did not even know they had difficulty in seeing. The normal incidence of refractive errors among children is less than 10%, while in some populations, it is as low as 5%.

“Younger children are not aware of what ideal vision is, so they start accepting blurred vision and continue with it. This could be disastrous as the child may develop a lazy eye or amblyopia (underdeveloped vision in the eye) or a squint, which could affect their vision permanently,” said Dr Riddhi Shah, a paediatric ophthalmologist at Bhojraj Chanrai Sankara Eye Hospital, which conducted the study.

Using gadgets causes dryness in the eyes and glare issues, where the child finds it difficult to see in bright light, leading to refractive errors, doctors said. During a recent screening of 3,000 schoolchildren in Pune, doctors found that 18% of them had refractive errors.
“The numbers are even higher in our clinics, where at least 20-25% of children have difficulty in seeing and a majority of them use computers, mobile phone for long hours,” said Dr Ambarish Darak, a Punebased refractive eye surgeon. “Also, poor nutritional intake because of junk food consumption triggers eye disorders at an early age.”
Children with a genetic predisposition to impaired vision are likely to develop such refractive errors earlier, said doctors. “Various studies have shown that the child’s power increases if they use computers, mobile phones and tablets for long, as they are held closer to the eye than televisions,” said Dr Saumya Sankara, who heads the Bhojraj centre’s Bangalore facility.
However, Dr Darshan Chudgar, an ophthalmologist, Kohinoor Hospital, Kurla, said, “Vision depends on the shape and length of the cornea, which is genetically pre-determined. Any near work and close screen usage results in exhaustion of the eye, but it has no role to play in causing refractive errors.”