Another Reason To Let Kids Stay Outdoors..

If you want your kids not to get short-sighted and start  wearing glasses from an early age, then make sure they are spending enough time outdoors.  

Researchers have found that there has been a massive rise around the globe in short-sightedness, especially among young children.    

And the best thing that parents can do to prevent this is to make sure that kids spend more time outdoors in the sunlight.

Why has myopia become so common?

Annegret Dahlmann-Noor, consultant ophthalmologist  at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London was quoted as saying that lack of natural light seems to be the key issue.

“The main factor seems to be a lack of exposure to direct sunlight, because children who study a lot and who use computers or smartphones or tablet computers a lot have less opportunity to run around outside and are less exposed to sunshine and because of that seem to be at more risk of developing short-sightedness.”

“These kids are being pushed with very intensive education from a very young age and spend a lot of time indoors studying everything close up and very little time outdoors.

So should screen use be stopped completely or stopped?

Dr Dahlmann-Noor, who is a mother of three, says trying to stop screen use is probably an unrealistic aspiration.

The best thing to do, say the experts, is to get children playing outside as much as possible.

She also recommends regular annual eye checks.

Signs of short-sightedness:

• Needing to sit near the front of the class at school because they find it difficult to read the board
• sitting close to the television
• complaining of headaches or tired eyes
• regularly rubbing their eyes

Does your child get enough time outdoors? And is her/his screen time limited? If not, you know what to do.  

Information for this article was sourced from bbc.com

Also read: 5 Ways to Keep Your Kid Away From Gadgets

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