Screen time behind rise in short-sightedness among Aussie kids

Top eye surgeons have sounded the alarm over short-sightedness*, saying more kids are getting the condition because they are spending more time indoors and on screens.

They said Aussie kids and young people were being diagnosed with the condition earlier and at more severe levels compared to previous generations.

The findings were part of an investigation by The Daily Telegraph, which spoke to 39 ophthalmologists* from across the country to find out what the biggest eye problems were and how we could prevent them.

Pediatric* eye surgeon Caroline Catt was among those who said they had seen a “real surge” in children presenting with short-sightedness.

“The biggest trend is the increasing incidence of short-sightedness developing at a younger age and progressing to a higher degree compared with previous generations,” Dr Catt said.

“This is likely due to multifactorial* causes such as genetics*, spending more time indoors on screens and less time playing outside in natural light.”

Victorian ophthalmologist Rahul Chakrabarti also observed this trend: “Over the past five years, we’ve seen a real surge in pediatric myopia* across Australia – a shift that’s closely tied to … less time playing outdoors and a lot more time in front of screens,” he said.

Despite the increase in people being diagnosed with short-sightedness, a condition corrected with glasses, many people were no longer keen on spectacles.

About 20 per cent of the surgeons interviewed said their patients were seeking eye surgery earlier than ever before because they no longer wanted to rely on using glasses.

They also said advances in technology had made correcting short-sightedness and other eye conditions, such as cataracts*, more accessible to younger age groups.

“One of the biggest shifts is that people are no longer accepting poor vision as an inevitable* part of ageing,” Dr Aanchal Gupta, from South Australia, said.

Sydney-based eye surgeon Jay Yohendran agreed: “So many patients are seeking surgery earlier to maintain an active lifestyle and reduce their dependence on glasses,” he said.

BIGGEST EYE MISTAKES
Almost 60 per cent of eye doctors said the biggest mistake patients made was not getting regular eye checks.

This was because there were certain serious eye conditions, such as glaucoma*, macular degeneration* and diabetic retinopathy*, that showed no early warning signs.

The current recommendation for kids is to have an eye check at least once every two years or more frequently if there are specific problems.

Victorian ophthalmologist Simon Skalicky said patients sometimes presented with “irreversible vision loss” that could have been prevented through early detection.

“If you wait until you’ve got a problem, sometimes you’ve waited too late, and you’ve lost a lot of vision that in an ideal world should never have been lost,” he said.

“Just because your eyes feel fine doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get checked.”

Professor Paul Healey agreed that “equating clear vision with healthy eyes” is a big mistake.

Four surgeons strongly recommended people stop the simple habit of rubbing their eyes.

Sydney eye surgeon Alison Chiu said rubbing your eyes “may feel harmless but can progressively* warp the shape of your cornea* and, in severe cases, cause vision loss”.

Dr Jacqueline Beltz agreed, adding that this was especially important when removing makeup.

“I’ll never understand sacrificing eye health for a brief moment of satisfaction,” she said.

“Rubbing the eyes distorts* the shape of the cornea at the front of the eye and can lead to permanent warpage* and visual loss, taking makeup off is an important time to remember this.”

The eye surgeons also recommended other tips to protect the eyes including wearing UV-rated sunglasses and a broadbrimmed hat, and eating well, particularly leafy green vegetables.

As for screen time, they said it was important to spend at least two hours outdoors each day. And if you have been looking at a screen for a long time, try to remember the 20-20-20 rule – for every 20 minutes spent on a screen, look at something 20 feet (6m) away for 20 seconds.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• short-sightedness: an eye condition where close objects look clear but distant objects appear blurry
• ophthalmologists: a specialised doctor who treats and performs surgery on the eye
• Pediatric: related to children
• multifactorial: caused by lots of different factors combined
• genetics: the DNA passed down from your parents
• pediatric myopia: short-sightedness experienced by a child
• cataracts: when the lens in your eye goes cloudy, stopping light from passing to the back of your eye and making vision blurry or dim
• inevitable: going to happen no matter what
• glaucoma: a group of eye diseases that cause pressure to build up in the eye and damage parts of the eye, leading to permanent vision loss and blindness
• macular degeneration: an eye disease that damages the central part of the retina, leading to vision loss in the centre of vision while the side vision is still working
• diabetic retinopathy: an eye disease caused by high blood sugar levels that damage the delicate blood vessels in the retina, causing vision loss
• progressively: worsening over time
• cornea: the clear, outer layer at the front of the eye that covers the pupil, iris and the fluid-filled chamber called the anterior chamber. The cornea protects your eye from dust and germs while helping the eye focus
• distorts: changes the shape
• warpage: the unwanted distortion of an object from its original shape into a different one

EXTRA READING
Are your eyes sun-safe right now?
More Aussie kids need glasses
‘Digital detox’ a student success

QUICK QUIZ
1. What is causing the surge in children being diagnosed with short-sightedness?
2. Why are more younger people getting eye surgery?
3. Why is rubbing your eyes so bad?
4. What are two things you can do for better eye health?
5. Why are regular eye checks important?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What could they do?
What do you think optometrists could do to encourage more young people to have their eyes checked regularly? Write a list of ideas!

Time: Spend at least 15 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education

2. Extension
Do you know what happens in your eyes if you are shortsighted or myopic? Use your research skills to find out. Use the information that you have found, and information in the story to create an infographic. The purpose of your infographic is to help other kids understand how too much screen time leads to myopia or short sightedness.

Time: Spend at least 30 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Health and Physical Education

VCOP ACTIVITY
Summarise the article
A summary can be a really good way to grab the main idea plus some key points in the article as a highlight. Think of the summary like a little advertisement or extract you could use to encourage people to read the article in detail. You want to give them an overview of the article that includes the main idea (being able to tell the audience what the article is about in one sentence), plus a few of the key points of the information.

Remember to re-read your summary to check that it is clear, concise and makes sense to the audience who haven’t read the article yet. You need to make language choices that allow you to explain the information in only a few sentences.