Myopia in Children : In this era of digital revolution, everything is gradually becoming digital and everyone, young and old, spends more and more time with mobile phones, laptops and TV for entertainment, which increases the risk of eye-related diseases.
Nowadays, smartphones, tablets and laptops are used for children’s studies, be it taking online classes or playing video games. Children spend hours of their precious time on the screen, due to which the chances of them getting nearsightedness i.e. myopia increases significantly and if it is not taken care of in time, then the eyesight of children gradually starts weakening. If your child is also gradually becoming a victim of this disease, then it is very important for you to know causes of Myopia , symptoms and methods of prevention.
What is myopia?
Myopia is an eye disorder in which children can see things around them clearly, but distant objects appear blurry. The main reason for this is spending continuous time on the screen, due to which the size of the pupil of their eyes becomes slightly longer and the rays of light coming from outside start focusing a little before the retina instead of focusing near it, due to which children see distant objects blurry.
Symptoms of Myopia
Many symptoms are seen in children when they have myopia. If parents become alert in time, it can help in removing this disorder.
- – Your child tries to see things from very close while studying or watching TV.
- – To see things that are far away, one has to narrow the eyes.
- – Children often complain of eye pain and headache and their vision becomes blurred.
- – The child repeatedly rubs his eyes or has the problem of water coming from the eyes.
- -When the child is unable to see clearly the words written on the blackboard and the child is unable to complete his homework, due to which he does not feel like studying.
Causes of Myopia
There are many reasons for myopia, let’s know about it –
- Nowadays children spend most of their time on smartphones and laptops, due to which continuous gaming and staring at the screen puts a lot of strain on the eyes.
- In the olden days, children used to go out to play as soon as they returned from school and would cycle for hours, but nowadays instead of playing outside in the fields, children are adopting indoor lifestyle and keep playing with various types of gadgets in closed rooms and due to this they get less sunlight and when the eyes do not get adequate amount of sunlight, their eyes start getting weak due to this.
- Sometimes this disease is also caused genetically, when one of the parents wears glasses, then the chances of the child getting this disease increases.
How to Protect Your Child from Myopia
To protect your child from myopia, you need to take some precautions: –
- Encourage your child to participate in outdoor activities and spend 1 to 2 hours of sunlight daily. This keeps their eyes healthy, as sunlight is essential for eye development and releases dopamine, which is essential for eye health.
- Implement the 20-20-20 rule for children. If your child spends a lot of time on a screen, ask them to look at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. This will relax their eye muscles.
- Avoid giving your child a mobile phone or screen use at all. If your child is younger, limit their use to only 1 hour per day.
- Schedule regular eye checkups so that any problems can be detected and treated appropriately.
Conclusion
Eyes are a precious gift given by nature, life cannot be imagined without it and our life will become completely colorless and we will be deprived of seeing the many colors present in the world, hence definitely encourage your children to move ahead in this digital age but instead of spending time on indoor gaming and screens, encourage them to spend time outdoor gaming and in sunlight, so that your child’s eyes remain healthy and if any of the above mentioned symptoms appear then immediately contact your eye doctor.
