Screen Time and Your Vision – Part 1

From TV, to smart phones, to tablets, and gaming it seems that screens are taking over our lives! The average American adult is estimated to spend 8 hours in front of a screen each day and children spend on average of 5-7 hours. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that this outrageous amount of daily “screen time” has not been the root cause to any serious health problems, it is definitely contributing to numerous health risks.

First and foremost, looking at any screen is a visual task. This is often forgotten and visual concerns slip off the health risk radar. Staring at a monitor for a long duration of time takes a lot of close- focusing power for the eyes. The amount of work that they eyes have to do for hours on end to keep that close-focus can leave the eyes feeling dry, itchy, and extremely fatigued. Blurry or double vision can also occur. While some screen use cannot be avoided (work and school) it is important to take into consideration the amount of extra- curricular time spent on screened devices as well as what can be done to make that time more visually comfortable.

– Written by Kayla Wigle