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Some doctors are now warning of a poor-vision "epidemic" among children because of their overuse of screens.
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Some doctors are now warning of a poor-vision “epidemic” among children because of their overuse of screens.
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One more reason to send your kids outside this summer: Experts are warning of a poor-vision epidemic among children, thanks to all their screen-staring.

A recent study found nearsightedness has doubled among young people in Britain over the past 50 years, prompting eye surgeon Steve Schallhorn, chairman of the Optical Express International Medical Advisory Board, to speak up about screen time.

“I believe that we are creating an epidemic of short-sightedness which recent studies show is (linked) to the regular use of handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets,” he told the United Kingdom’s Daily Express. “The growth and development of a child’s eye can be influenced by the type of work that it is required to perform.”

A report in USA Today last year sounded a similar alarm, with optometrists noting increased cases of eyestrain in children and warning parents about the risks of the blue light emitted by screens, which they say could lead to age-related macular degeneration.

“As children acquire cellphones at younger ages and are using them more frequently during the day, we are seeing the symptoms … in younger children more than we have before,” optometrist Sarah Hinkley, a spokeswoman for the American Optometric Association and an associate professor at the Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University, told USA Today.

Warnings about the ill effects of screen time are nothing new, but they’re particularly important to bear in mind during the summer, when less structured days and more time traveling in cars and planes can easily lead to a heavier reliance on devices to pass the time.

We recently flew to Albuquerque, N.M., to visit family, and I was all too happy to give my iPhone and laptop to my kids, 9 and 5, during the flights, so I could enjoy some quiet time with a book.

They would have been better served staring out the windows.

“If kids are allowed to play ‘Candy Crush’ on the way to school, the car ride will be quiet, but that’s not what kids need,” Catherine Steiner-Adair, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age” (Harper), recently told The New York Times. “They need time to daydream, deal with anxieties, process their thoughts and share them with parents, who can provide reassurance.”

Certainly parents need and deserve a break here and there, but it’s useful to know the physical and emotional toll taken by the reflexive use of technology to achieve those breaks.

A quiet child doesn’t always make for the healthiest one.

hstevens@tribpub.com

Twitter @heidistevens13