Myopia Risk Increases in Children

Acıbadem Dr. Sinasi Can (Kadıköy) Hospital Ophthalmology Specialist Dr. Professor İbrahim Şahbaz made a statement about the increased risk of myopia in children.

Acıbadem Dr. Sinasi Can (Kadıköy) Hospital Ophthalmology Specialist Dr. Lecturer İbrahim Şahbaz pointed out that especially myopia, in other words, the problem of farsightedness is seen much more frequently in children with the Covid pandemic, “Today's children have grown up in a world surrounded by digital devices with the pandemic. Increasing usage habits of digital devices with screens and spending less time outdoors have become a threat to children's eye health. Myopia, which is the most common sight especially among eye diseases, has started to be seen with increasing frequency in children with the pandemic. said.

Dr. Faculty Member İbrahim Şahbaz warned against the use of digital screens for a long time.

“Myopia is considered one of the most important health problems worldwide today. It is stated that approximately 2,5 billion people in the world have myopia. The World Health Organization predicts that this number will reach 2050 billion by 4,8. The mechanism of formation of myopia with the use of a digital screen is not yet fully known. However, it is thought that close eye contact with a digital screen for a long time and the use of electronic screen devices cause myopia. Acomadation, in other words, the effort to capture rapidly changing images on the screen during the process of self-regulation of the eye to focus on an object causes the ciliary muscle, which brings the objects to the focus of the retina, constantly contracting. As a result of this picture, it is suggested that the intraocular, that is, the increase in intraocular pressure, of the lens with increased thickness will cause the formation of myopia in the eye. It is thought that excessive adaptation (looking closely for a long time) causes stretching of the sclera, which is the part of the eye that appears to be white in color, and affects the axial elongation of the eye, which ensures perfect eye development, thus leading to myopia.” used the phrases.

Dr. Faculty Member İbrahim Şahbaz emphasized that digital devices dry out the eyes.

Another important problem created by the excessive use of digital devices is that it can lead to the development of 'dry eye'. Ophthalmologist Dr. Professor İbrahim Şahbaz stated that we normally blink our eyes 17-26 times per minute, “However, the number of blinks decreases to an average of 4-12 blinks per minute for those who use computers frequently. As a result, the evaporation of the tear layer, which cleans, moisturizes and removes foreign bodies and substances that may cause irritation from the eye, increases and the tear layer cannot be renewed due to the low blinking. In addition, the amount of evaporation in tears increases. All of this results in dry eyes or an increase in previous complaints," he said.

Dr. Faculty Member Şahbaz talked about the importance of children spending time outdoors.

In addition to spending a long time in front of digital devices, insufficient outdoor activities are among the main factors that negatively affect eye health. Dr. Lecturer İbrahim Şahbaz said, “Spending time outdoors is very important because it positively affects biological rhythm and hormonal balances. Exposure to UV light outdoors increases dopamine release. This reduces the growth of the eye length, which causes the development of myopia in the eye. Therefore, it is very important for children's eye health to spend time outdoors on a regular basis every day. said.

Dr. Faculty Member Şahbaz emphasized that electronic education should not be more than 30 percent of the total education, and made the following statement:

“It should be noted that homework using electronic devices should not be more than 20 minutes a day. As a requirement of the 20/20/20 rule, it is extremely important for children to move their eyes away from the screen for 20 seconds every 20 minutes and to look 6 meters and away while doing their homework. In addition to these, limiting digital screen gaming time, developing an age-appropriate restriction and preventing excessive online video gaming are other measures that should be taken.”

Compliance with the rules recommended in the use of devices with digital screens and in the lighting of the environment is of great importance for the eye development and eye health of children, especially in the developmental period. Ophthalmologist Dr. Faculty Member İbrahim Şahbaz lists 5 important rules to be considered in order to protect children's eye health as follows:

“It is very important for your child to apply the 20/20/20 rule against eye strain and dryness. That is, every 20 minutes, it should look beyond 20 feet and 20 feet (about 6 meters) for XNUMX seconds. After this period is repeated three times, a one-hour break is recommended.

It is also of great importance to comply with the 30-60-300 rule in the position of digital screens. It is recommended that the mobile phone be 30 cm away, the computer 60 cm and the television 300 cm away.

Make sure the screen is 15-20 degrees below eye level.

Make sure that the ambient light is indirect, homogeneous and yellow.

It is also recommended to protect your child's eyes from blue light from digital devices. You can take measures such as glasses with blue light filters, applications that filter blue light on digital screens.”