Can watching TV affect vision in children?

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 05 July 2011, 18:40 IST
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Bangalore: Most of us grow up listening to our parents telling us not to watch television for a long time or it would affect our eyes. Most eye doctors say that it's unlikely that watching too much television, reading too many books or staring at a computer screen will permanently damage your eyes. However, all of these activities can cause eyestrain, which isn't something you should ignore. Eyestrain is when your eyes get overtired from too much use. A recent study conducted in Australia found that children who spent more time in front of screens watching television and playing video games without taking breaks had constricted eye blood vessels in comparison to those who watched limited amount of television. They studied randomly selected school children in Sydney. The children's parents answered questionnaires about how much time their child spent watching television and doing outdoor and physical activities. based on the answers and variety of health factors, found that blood vessels in the eyes of children who watched the most TV were slightly smaller in diameter than those in children who watched the least amount. "We don't know what it means in children," said Dr. Paul Mitchell, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Sydney and lead author of the study. "We have to follow them for much longer." The study was published on Thursday in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. However they did warn against children sitting too close to the television for more than an hour due to the x-rays shooting from television. A few tips to make sure your child is safe from prolonged eyestrain are given: - Make sure your children sit at least 4-5 meters away from the screen. The closer they are to the TV, the harder their eyes have to work, and thus the more tired the eyes will become. - Watch TV in a bright room, but avoid causing any glare or reflection of light on the TV screen. - Take a break. You can ask your children to look away or move about during commercial break.

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