Computer Use May Damage Kids’ Eyesight

Is there an epidemic of myopia among kids? Some experts think so, and they point to the many hours that some children spend in front of a computer doing homework or playing Nintendo. “Children have to constantly refocus their eyes when they’re using a computer, which can be very taxing,” says Cary Herzberg, a Chicago optometrist. “Our eyes aren’t designed to do all this close work.” In studies in Taiwan, for example, the percentage of nearsighted (myopic) children in the first grade jumped from 12.1% to 20.4% between 1995 and 2000. A similar survey in Singapore found that 34% of children between ages 7 and 9 suffered from myopia. Public health officials there also blame excessive computer use.

Recent U.S. figures aren’t available, though a study this year by the UC Berkeley School of Optometry revealed that 25% of school-age children needed corrective eyewear to work safely at computers. But anecdotally, Herzberg says, “I’m seeing youngsters who are 10 and 12 or even younger suffering from severe myopia, where they need to stand next to the eye chart to read the letters. I’ve never seen kids this age with this degree of nearsightedness.”

A child’s visual system, says Herzberg, can’t really handle a computer screen until the sixth or seventh grade.