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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

eye strain

Myopia a growing concern as pandemic drags on

May 2, 2021 | 8:00 AM

As the technological world advances, significant concern about nearsightedness was already increasing.

Now, with a 14.5-month pandemic that has kept people, kids in particular, indoors more than usual, Alberta optometrists say the danger of developing what’s also known as myopia is as high as ever.

Local optometrist Dr. Trent Allred of Doctors EyeCare says he is seeing more young people come in with vision problems.

“I’ve seen it with my own kids. You get too much screen time and you get moody because you’re missing the vitamin D and the outside time,” Allred says. “We’ve seen more myopia and we see that with people who work on computers anyway.”

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More parents are reporting behavioural and mental health issues which he says are ripple effects of spending too much time staring at a screen.

A recent survey for the Alberta Association of Optometrists shows 75 per cent of parents are concerned about their children’s eye health.

The survey found about 40 to 50 per cent of a child’s waking hours are spent on digital devices, and that rises to 60 per cent among teenagers.

Allred says there’s also been an increase in people wanting to try blue filters on their glasses as a means of possibly reducing eye strain.

“The pandemic has forced people onto their screens, so at minimum, many people are looking at one six hours a day, no matter what,” he says.

“Thankfully, any child under 19 can get an eye exam yearly, covered by Alberta Health. Especially during growth and puberty, eyes can change, and if someone has a lazy eye or astigmatism, they can be getting headaches and they’re using a computer more, so we recommend utilizing those exams.”

He says catching something before it gets too bad is key.

The Alberta Association of Optometrists suggests that to reduce the impact of screen time, parents can implement easy, every day actions, including limiting handheld devices, planning for outside playtime, putting away electronics one to two hours before bedtime, and ensuring children hold reading material away from their face.

Most importantly, parents should implement eye health breaks or even set routine ‘unplug’ days following screen-heavy time periods to give their children’s eyes a rest.

(With files from Chris Brown/CHAT News Today Medicine Hat)