How does prolonged use of digital screens affect eye health?
Researchers in South Korea say that spending an extra hour looking at digital screens can increase the risk of myopia
The results of a study published in Jama Network Open concluded that an additional hour in front of digital screens, such as computers, mobile phones or tablets, can increase the risk of myopia by 21 %.
This is the estimate of the authors of the research from the Seoul University, who based it on a systematic review and a meta-analysis of 45 already published studies, involving 335,524 children and adolescents, aged 2 to 19 years (the average age was 9.3 years).
They indicated that “the prevalence of myopia is increasing and, according to forecasts, by 2050 almost half of the world’s population will suffer from it.”
On the other hand, the data also indicate that there would be “a potential safety threshold of less than one hour of daily exposure.”
One aspect to consider, mentioned by the Spanish researcher Sergio Recalde, from the University of Navarra, is that the analysis is limited, since it only focuses “on exposure to screens without considering other key factors, such as outdoor activity and exposure to sunlight.”
Recalde added that the relationship between screens and myopia “seems real, but without including outdoor activity and other key factors (genetic factors, distance to screens, schedule…), the results must be interpreted with caution.”
M.Pino
Source: dw
(Reference image source: Becca Tapert on Unsplash)
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