Vol.5 How to deal with digital devices

 

Our eyes are important sensory organs through which we obtain about 80% of the information from the world around us. We tend to take our eyes for granted but with aging, disorders can happen at any time. Our goal at NIDEK is to encourage everyone to think about their daily habits and take better care of their eyes.

 

transcript】

〈00:22-〉 Mother: How many of world’s children do you think are nearsighted? Myopia is a condition that makes it difficult to see far away. Boy: I don’t know. Mother: The correct answer is about one out of six! *¹

〈00:54-〉 Mother: If you look at the screen of a digital device for 20 minutes, you should look 20 feet ahead for at least 20 seconds! That’s the 20-20-20 rule! *²

〈01:11-〉 Mother: We recommend that objects be at least 1 foot away from your eyes.*³

〈01:44-〉 Mother: How much sleep does every child need? Boy: About 6 hours? Mother: Wrong! The correct answer is 9 to 11 hours!*⁴

〈02:06-〉 Mother: There are reports that viewing the blue light from the screens of digital devices before bed can affect your body’s internal rhythms.*⁵

〈02:24-〉 Mother: So I’d suggest not using digital devices an hour or two before bed.*⁶

【Reference】

1. Our own calculations are based on the following references. Jemima Young 2019, ‘BOOM IN MYOPIA AMONG CHILDREN BY 2050’, Clearly, viewed 12 Oct 2022, https://clearly.world/news/press-release-boom-in-myopia-among-children-by-2050/. UNICEF 2019, The State of the World’s Children 2019. Children, Food and Nutrition: Growing well in a changing world, p.195, UNICEF, New York.

2. Daniel Porter 2022, ‘Digital Devices and Your Eyes’, American Academy Ophthalmology, viewed 21 Nov 2022, https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/digital-devices-your-eyes.

3. Kyoko Ohno-Matsui 2023, ‘子どもが近視といわれたら (If your child is diagnosed with myopia)’, Japan Ophthalmologists Association, viewed 7 Jun 2023, https://www.gankaikai.or.jp/health/39/.

4. Sleep duration for school-aged children aged 6-13 as recommended by an expert panel Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S.M., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L., Hazen, N., Herman, J., Katz, E.S., Kheirandish-Gozal, L., Neubauer, D.N., O’Donnell, A.E., Ohayon, M., Peever, J., Rawding, R., Sachdeva, R.C., Setters, B., Vitiello, M.V., Ware, J.C. and Adams Hillard, P.J. 2015, National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary, Sleep Health, [online] 1(1), pp.40–43. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2014.12.010.

5. Chang, A.-M., Aeschbach, D., Duffy, J.F. and Czeisler, C.A. 2014, Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [online] 112(4), pp.1232–1237, doi:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418490112.

6. Daniel Porter 2022, Digital Devices and Your Eyes, American Academy Ophthalmology, viewed 21 Nov 2022, https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/digital-devices-your-eyes.

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