The Brazilian Society of Pediatrics warned of the consequences of excessive use of screens, in particular, in the eyes of children.
A CNN Radio Fábio Ejzenbaum, who is coordinator of the SBP Ophthalmological Working Group, explained that there are records of several problems for children.
“Vision problems, difficulty reading, dry eye syndrome – when the child blinks less in front of the monitor and farther from it to lubricate the eyes, in addition to burning and red eyes”, he reported.
The “great villain”, according to him, is the induction of myopia: “The excess of screens and low exposure to external activities are factors for the appearance of myopia in children.”
The screens, according to the expert, are basically cell phones and tablets, as young people “keep their faces very close to these devices.”
Fábio recalls that there is an estimate from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the ideal exposure time for each age group:
Children from 0 to 2 years old: must not have any exposure
Children aged 2 to 6 years: 1 hour a day
Children aged 6 to 10 years: 2 hours a day
Children over 11 years old: up to 3 hours a day
In any case, the expert claims that it is important to avoid using screens at night, so as not to affect sleep.
“The blue light it emits interferes with sleep, in addition to that, if you spend hours in front of the screen, it strains the eye muscle, and can cause headaches”, he said.
For this reason, it is important to take a break every 20 or 30 minutes, to have contact with ambient light.
*Produced by Isabel Campos
Source: CNN Brasil
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