Half of parents are blind to how much screen time can damage their kids' vision, according to new research.
They overlook simple steps to protect it - such as wearing blue-light blocking glasses and making their children play outdoors more.
Spending more hours on smartphones, tablets and other digital devices - and less time outdoors - is harmful.
Sarah Clark, a research scientist at the University of Michigan, said: "Many parents may not be aware of both the short and long-term health issues linked to excessive screen time, including its effect on children's eyes.
"Our findings suggest that some parents may have inaccurate perceptions of activities that affect their child’s eye health and vision and how to minimize risks."
They were based on a nationally-representative survey of 2,002 parents of children aged three to 18 across the US. One in seven said their child has not had a vision test in two years.
Many schoolkids' screen time soared during the pandemic. The phenomenon was linked to worsening eyesight.
Millions of pupils were forced to switch to remote learning, while social media use skyrocketed. The increases were leisure activities not related to work or study.
Ophthalmologists have warned of an epidemic of shortsightedness, or myopia, across the world. It can lead to more serious eye problems later in life.
The condition in children has increased dramatically in the past 30 years. Studies suggest outdoor time protects against it.
Ms. Clark said: "Parents should encourage at least one to two hours of outdoor time per day because exposure to natural light benefits eye development."
"Parents should enforce family rules to ensure children have a sustained period of non-screen time during the day.
"This is especially important during summer months when they’re off from school and may have less structured downtime."
Some research has linked working up close - like reading or using a tablet - with shortsightedness.
Study consultant Dr. Olivia Killeen, also from Michigan, said: "It is an important time to think about myopia risks for children because kids with this condition often become more nearsighted over time.
"The age of myopia onset is the most significant predictor of severe myopia later in life."
Fewer than one in three parents polled said wearing sunglasses has a major impact. Just two in five have their child wear eyewear.
They reduce ultraviolet radiation damage which can contribute to eye problems in older age.
Ms. Clark explained: "While parents often make sure their children's skin is protected with sunscreen, they may not think about protecting their eyes from the sun as well."
Less than a third of parents said their child wears protective glasses or goggles during contact sports.
Ms. Clark recommends seeking advice from health providers for safe and comfortable eyewear for sports like lacrosse, tennis, baseball and softball and basketball.
Most parents said their children wear them for working with tools and playing shooting games like Nerf guns or paintball.
After time spent on screens, the most common factors they identified as impacting children’s vision and eye health are reading in poor light, sitting close to the TV or computer, diet and blue light from screens.
Ms. Clark said: "Some parents may still follow advice from past generations on protecting kids' eyes.
"Reading in poor light or sitting close to the TV can cause eye fatigue or strain, but they will not do any permanent damage or long-term eye problems."
Fewer than a third of parents said children wear glasses that block blue light that impacts circadian rhythms and makes it harder to fall asleep.
Experts recommend children stop blue light screen use at least one hour before bedtime.
Ms. Clark said: "Children should get vision tests at least every two years to make sure eyes are developing properly.
"It's important to identify and treat vision problems as early as possible, because undiagnosed issues can lead to serious eye conditions in the future, including permanent vision loss."
Last year an analysis of the online habits of 60,000 families in the UK found website and app visits more than doubled in the pandemic.
Another study of more than 120,000 Chinese children found a threefold increase in shortsightedness among six to eight-year-olds in 2020 caused by being confined to their homes with schoolwork delivered online.
Concern about excessive screen use extends beyond eyesight. The Millpond Sleep Clinic in London reported a doubling in demand among children.
Parents say they cannot get them to sleep as they have busy brains at bedtime - fuelled by screen time being one.
They also worry about the impact on children's mental and emotional development. The US recommends no more than two hours of screen time a day for children aged two and older.
Stories and infographics by ‘Talker Research’ are available to download & ready to use. Stories and videos by ‘Talker News’ are managed by SWNS. To license content for editorial or commercial use and to see the full scope of SWNS content, please email [email protected] or submit an inquiry via our contact form.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__hssc
1 hour
HubSpot sets this cookie to keep track of sessions and to determine if HubSpot should increment the session number and timestamps in the __hstc cookie.
__hssrc
session
This cookie is set by Hubspot whenever it changes the session cookie. The __hssrc cookie set to 1 indicates that the user has restarted the browser, and if the cookie does not exist, it is assumed to be a new session.
_GRECAPTCHA
5 months 27 days
Google Recaptcha service sets this cookie to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
CookieLawInfoConsent
1 year
CookieYes sets this cookie to record the default button state of the corresponding category and the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.
ts
1 year 1 month 1 day
PayPal sets this cookie to enable secure transactions through PayPal.
usprivacy
1 year 1 month
This is a consent cookie set by Dailymotion to store the CCPA consent string (mandatory information about an end-user being or not being a California consumer and exercising or not exercising its statutory right).
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cf_bm
30 minutes
Cloudflare set the cookie to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
li_gc
5 months 27 days
Linkedin set this cookie for storing visitor's consent regarding using cookies for non-essential purposes.
lidc
1 day
LinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.
UserMatchHistory
1 month
LinkedIn sets this cookie for LinkedIn Ads ID syncing.
v1st
1 year 1 month 1 day
The v1st cookie is set by TripAdvisor to collect details about how visitors use the website, by displaying user reviews, awards and information received on the TripAdvisor community.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_gat
1 minute
Google Universal Analytics sets this cookie to restrain request rate and thus limit data collection on high-traffic sites.
_p_hfp_client_id
less than a minute
Elfsight sets this cookie to implement social platforms on the website and enables the social platforms to track the users by assigning them a specific ID.
dmvk
session
The dmvk cookie is set by Dailymotion to record data of visitor behaviour on the website.
SRM_B
1 year 24 days
Used by Microsoft Advertising as a unique ID for visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__hstc
6 months
Hubspot set this main cookie for tracking visitors. It contains the domain, initial timestamp (first visit), last timestamp (last visit), current timestamp (this visit), and session number (increments for each subsequent session).
_clck
1 year
Microsoft Clarity sets this cookie to retain the browser's Clarity User ID and settings exclusive to that website. This guarantees that actions taken during subsequent visits to the same website will be linked to the same user ID.
_clsk
1 day
Microsoft Clarity sets this cookie to store and consolidate a user's pageviews into a single session recording.
_fbp
3 months
Facebook sets this cookie to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting the website.
_ga
1 year 1 month 4 days
Google Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*
1 year 1 month 4 days
Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.
_gat_gtag_UA_*
1 minute
Google Analytics sets this cookie to store a unique user ID.
_gcl_au
3 months
Google Tag Manager sets the cookie to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
_gid
1 day
Google Analytics sets this cookie to store information on how visitors use a website while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the collected data includes the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
AnalyticsSyncHistory
1 month
Linkedin set this cookie to store information about the time a sync took place with the lms_analytics cookie.
CLID
1 year
Microsoft Clarity set this cookie to store information about how visitors interact with the website. The cookie helps to provide an analysis report. The data collection includes the number of visitors, where they visit the website, and the pages visited.
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
hubspotutk
6 months
HubSpot sets this cookie to keep track of the visitors to the website. This cookie is passed to HubSpot on form submission and used when deduplicating contacts.
ln_or
1 day
Linkedin sets this cookie to registers statistical data on users' behaviour on the website for internal analytics.
MR
7 days
This cookie, set by Bing, is used to collect user information for analytics purposes.
SM
session
Microsoft Clarity cookie set this cookie for synchronizing the MUID across Microsoft domains.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
ANONCHK
10 minutes
The ANONCHK cookie, set by Bing, is used to store a user's session ID and verify ads' clicks on the Bing search engine. The cookie helps in reporting and personalization as well.
bcookie
1 year
LinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser IDs.
bscookie
1 year
LinkedIn sets this cookie to store performed actions on the website.
fr
3 months
Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites with Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE
1 year 24 days 1 minute
Google DoubleClick IDE cookies store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads according to the user profile.
li_sugr
3 months
LinkedIn sets this cookie to collect user behaviour data to optimise the website and make advertisements on the website more relevant.
muc_ads
1 year 1 month 4 days
Twitter sets this cookie to collect user behaviour and interaction data to optimize the website.
MUID
1 year 24 days
Bing sets this cookie to recognise unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. This cookie is used for advertising, site analytics, and other operations.
personalization_id
1 year 1 month 4 days
Twitter sets this cookie to integrate and share features for social media and also store information about how the user uses the website, for tracking and targeting.
test_cookie
15 minutes
doubleclick.net sets this cookie to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
ttwid
1 year
Tiktok sets this cookie to keep track of user authentication and session information.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
YouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA
6 months
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's cookie consent state for the current domain.
YSC
session
Youtube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.