Many Parents Do Not Recognize Impact of Screen Time on Eye Health

WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Only half of parents recognize that screen time has a major impact on their child's eye health, according to the results of a survey released by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

Sarah J. Clark, and colleagues from the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, conducted a national survey of parents of children aged 3 to 18 years about how they take care of their child's eye health.

According to the results of the survey, the most common factors parents rate as having a major impact on children's vision and eye health are the amount of screen time each day (49 percent), reading in poor light (45 percent), how close children sit to the TV/screen (40 percent), diet (40 percent), and blue light from screens (37 percent). Three in 10 parents say wearing sunglasses when outdoors has a major impact on children's vision and eye health. To protect their child's eye health, the most common actions parents take are making sure their child has adequate reading light (85 percent), reminding their child to move back from the screen (74 percent), having their child get enough vitamin A (66 percent), setting limits on the amount of screen time (60 percent), and having their child wear sunglasses when outdoors (41 percent) or wear glasses that block blue light (27 percent).

"Parents should encourage at least one to two hours of outdoor time per day because exposure to natural light benefits eye development," Clark said in a statement. "Parents should enforce family rules to ensure children have a sustained period of non-screen time during the day.”

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