More Teens Are Needing Glasses Than Ever Before

More teens and young children than ever before are having to get glasses.

According to Parkland Health, the number of children ages 13 to 16 who need glasses has doubled in the past 10 years.

Smartphones are just part of the blame for what’s being called the “nearsighted” generation. Social norms around screen use, virtual learning, and the pandemic have contributed to worsening eyesight in younger children.

"I've been practicing for over 12 years. And when I see them every year, the progression is a lot more than it was during the research I did when I was in school,” said Dr. Hina Robertson, a therapeutic optometrist and optometric glaucoma specialist for Parkland Health.

Dr. Robertson said nearsightedness, or myopia, is usually a genetic condition. But there is a whole generation of kids who are seeing worse than their parents.

“Extreme nearsightedness can cause a whole array of very serious problems like retinal detachments, degeneration of the choroid – which is the structure of the eye. It can even cause cataracts and glaucoma,” she warned. “So those are really serious permanent eye conditions that are caused by excess growth of the eye, which is nearsightedness.”

Smaller screens held closer to the face – like smartphones and tablets – have caused children's vision, even in children with otherwise healthy vision, to worsen.

"It is a completely different day and age right now, we've never had a whole generation that does something up close for so many hours a day,” said Dr. Robertson.

REDUCING SCREEN TIME

She said a general rule, according to the World Health Organization, is that children under the age of two should have zero screen time. Children up to five years old should have just one hour of screen time.

But of course, that's not reality. Dr. Robertson said she’s seeing many parents give tablets and phones to babies.

“I've seen kids that are sitting there eating their meals with the screen right next to their face. And even dietitians and other nutritionists have strong the issues with that and the eating habits,” she said. “It's definitely affecting everything from your eye health, to sleep habits, to eating habits. And its social norms as well. So with screens, there's tons of research going on in every category of health, showing how it's beneficial in some ways and really harmful in other ways.”

The pandemic has not helped – with kids having to spend more time on their computers for virtual classes at home.

 The simplest thing parents can do? Cut down the screen time.

“We know that that's a lot easier said than done because it is such an integral part of our lives. I mean, I have three kids of my own…I'm probably the toughest mom when it comes to screen time,” said Dr. Robertson. “I think one of the hardest things is that when the child has a device in their hands they have complete control over it. That control is hard to let go of. And once you give a child that control, it's really hard to take it away.”

But there are some things parents can do to work around that.

"The American Optometric Association came up with something called the 20/20 rule. So every 20 minutes, you want to take a 20-second break and look at something over 20 feet away. One of the things that you can do is talk to your child or your teen about taking some of those indoor activities and doing them outdoors that will allow for that 20/20 rule to actually be used to its full benefit,” Dr. Robertson said. “If you're indoors, sometimes there's not anything that is 20 feet away because you're in a small room.”

She said it's also important for parents to be proactive in finding other things for kids to do to get them off the screen and allow the child to be a part of that process.

“One of the things that I found is easiest from personal experience and peer-reviewed articles is to have an alternative and have the child come up with those alternatives. They can set their limits, saying, ‘If I do this, then I can get rewarded with the screen time.’ As opposed to doing a punishment for having too much screen time,” Dr. Robertson said. “Because it's not really under their control. I mean, they didn't buy the device or anything like that.”

She suggests parents charge the device in their own room at night to prevent the temptation for the child to use the screen for hours before bedtime.

More time outdoors is also beneficial.

“Doing outdoor activities is really great. It is a good replacement for screen time. Because that way you're kind of killing two birds with one stone and having them be outside to get that good, healthy, fresh air and sunlight,” said Dr. Robertson.

WHEN TO GET AN EYE EXAM?

Dr. Robertson recommends that every child – no matter genetic history – get an eye exam at 5 years old. If all goes well, get another at 10 years old.

“Oftentimes kids that have visual problems do not say anything. And they don't even sometimes exhibit the symptoms very clearly. They might rub their eyes once in a while,” said Robertson. “Almost all kids hold things closer, they have shorter arms. And all kids sit very close to things. So even kids that have healthy eyes sometimes show the same symptoms that kids that don't have healthy eyes.”

If it comes down to it, a doctor might be able to recommend methods to stop worsening vision, including eye exercises, cutting back on screen use, and even specialty contact lenses.

“They can assess whether it could be something as simple as just computer glasses with anti-glare, filters, or blue light protectors. Even multifocal lenses for kids because their environment requires them to see up close and then switch that focus too far away to see a friend, a classmate or a teacher,” said Dr. Robertson.

She added some good news – it takes years to do permanent damage to the eyes.

“A lot of the eyestrain symptoms are temporary. Just reducing that screen time and stepping away from it, using those glare filters, having good lighting in the room, and getting that eye exam to correct those undiagnosed issues can usually cause a lot of those problems to go away,” she said. “I think that's important in stopping these things early – it can really have some really great outcomes.”