Myopia increasing in children, are tablet screens and smartphones really so harmful?

Digital screens and myopia: what is the relationship?

Respond Andrea Lemboophthalmologist, San Giuseppe Multimedica hospital, Milan (Go to the forum)

It is now known the constant increase in the percentages of myopia worldwide. As part of the week of awareness of the Miopia 2025 (19-25 May), pediatologists from all over the world urge the population to adopt behaviors of the prevention of myopia, as Professor recalls Paolo Nuccipresident of Siops (Italian Society of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismo). The constant increase in short -sighted children is not only linked to a genetic component (we are not all children of myopians!), but also to the environment: spending little time in the open air and using technological sources at close range are ascertained stimuli for the « Myopia boom ». The problem is highly felt especially in Southeast Asia, where the percentages of myopia seem more alarming, so much so as to organize educational programs aimed at increasing the time spent in the open air, under the beneficial guidance of the sun’s rays.

Technologies and myopia

But are the screens of tablets and cell phones really so harmful? The answer comes from a Korean study recently published on Jamawhich can be a starting point for reflection, also in relation to the increasingly pressing technological conditioning in our schools. It is a meta -analysis on the association between the time spent on digital devices and the risk of myopia. Starting from the widespread diffusion of screens in daily activities, from communication to work, from entertainment to training, the study included 45 research with over 300 thousand participants, highlighting a significant correlation: it seems ascertained that On the one hand technology makes school life easier, but on the other it makes us become myopians before the time.

Increased risk

The dose-upward report reveals that The risk of myopia increases significantly when the daily exposure time exceeds an hour, with an increase in the risk between one and 4 hoursand a little slower growth over 4 hours. Every additional time of time on digital screens has been associated with A 21% increase in myopia risk. The increase is similar in different age groups, such as saying that there is no right age for students to increase technological pressure. However, the results of the researchers also showed a greater probability of myopia if you analyze the combined use of multiple digital devices, compared to an analysis based on a single device. Beyond the construction of the analysis and the population on which the investigation is carried out, which does not include western students, the data obtained leave us with some reflection.

Outdoor past time

Parents who accompany the Miopian children on a visit increasingly manifest the need to deepen the relationship between the time spent on the devices and the health of the eyes, also considering environmental factors and other vision activities up close, such as reading. Certainly, the possibility of improving the quality of the time spent outdoors could be an effective strategy not only to reduce the risk of myopia, but also for the psychophysical well -being of our children. The conclusions of this study provide important suggestions for public health policies and for future educational plans, where Team play is always important: parents, teachers and doctors together can make a difference.