Concerns growing over the state of children's eyes

 

Optometrists and clinical psychologists are growing more and more concerned around the state of our children's eyes.

And they're putting that down to one thing: too much screen time.

"We're seeing more and more children who are at risk of eye damage and are becoming more short sighted or Miopic," says optometrist Ayah Hadi.

Recently conducted research by Specsavers has revealed 1 in 5 New Zealand children are spending as many as 35 hours a week staring at screens.

That's almost the equivalent of working a full time job. 

The research also showed around 1 in 2 children, or 45 percent, aged between 1-16, have never had an eye exam.

That's more than 400,000 Kiwi kids.

"We are seeing more and more come across and that does mean that we see more children with eye problems that may require glasses or some eye exercises to resolve any issues," says Ms Hadi.

Young eyes are always developing and so are at risk of damage as it is. 

Too much time in front of screens only hampers that development, and the issue can span wider than just their eyes.

Newshub.