Distance education has had its effect on the deteriorating eyesight of many children
An abundance of smart technologies, in various positions and in addition close to the eyes, was to blame for vision problems. The more often the parents came to the doctor’s office accompanied by their children, most often with headaches, burning eyes or worsening focusing of distant objects.
Martin Salty
Fokus optician is an expert eye guarantor
However, the reality can be much worse. Not all parents with similar problems visited a specialist. Most of them, not only because of lockdowns and closed surgeries, but also because of the very fact that it is only a momentary affliction, solved the situation in their own way. Most often in a pharmacy by buying eye drops, or not at all. But it is already known that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will have far-reaching effects on the eyesight, and not just on children. And so many optometrists and ophthalmologists sound the alarm.
Schools are disconnected from life
The covid-19 pandemic could affect the myopia epidemic in particular. Already in 2020, short-sightedness, or myopia, accounted for half of all cases of visual impairment. But predictions say that 30 years later it will be a terrifying 85%. This is influenced not only by hard work at close range, whether on a computer, phone or tablet, but also by the time we spend inside buildings. And that during the covid there was a lot of it. It is the lack of direct sunlight that reduces the production of dopamine, which forces the eyes to gradually adapt to new conditions. The eyes don’t strain as much during medium-distance activity, but they sacrifice distance vision for this.
In the pediatric population, myopia is found in only 1 percent of children under the age of five. But the older they are, the more myopia cases increase rapidly. By the age of 15, 15 percent of children already suffer from it. Even preschool children are not much better off. In the Czech Republic, every twelfth child at the age of four has an undiagnosed eye defect.
Not only the pandemic is responsible for the alarming fact, but also the underestimation of regular preventive examinations. They can detect not only classic eye disorders, but also defects that neither a child nor an adult need to register during normal activities. With early diagnosis, it is possible to slow down, stabilize or even completely eliminate myopia in some cases.
Cash twilight?
Smaller children usually do not know anything suspicious. But parents can catch several warning signs. In children of preschool age, it is mainly noticeable blinking, tripping over furniture and objects, lack of interest in drawing or playing around. Later, when they are able to communicate, they mainly complain of headaches or strain when looking up close or far.
It is necessary to make sure that it does not lean too much to one side or the other, or that the text follows laterally. This striking behavior is most often related to forms of angular deviation in binocular vision. The child does not evaluate what he sees, because he has no comparison.
So what would I really wish for? So that parents do not underestimate preventive check-up visits. Examination is not only important in the first and third year of life, but also when starting school and then in puberty. At that time, the individual is undergoing rapid development and the occurrence of myopia related to the growth of the eye and strain when looking up close needs to be checked.
The opinions published here bring different views of publicists and personalities, but do not express the position of the Journal.