As technology advances, video games become more popular among kids. Many parents like you are often wondering how playing video games affect their kids. There have been multiple questions raised about aggressive behavior and obesity and almost none about eyesight and vision. This seems to be the trend in the current lifestyle, whereby people focus less on eye care.  

Optometry Findings

According to optometry findings, kids are likely to experience eye problems due to an extended amount of time playing video games. These problems are similar to those adults experience after staring at computer screens for hours. 

Therefore, extensive game screen viewing can cause your kids to experience blurry vision, light sensitivity, headaches, eye discomfort, and fatigue. These issues arise because your kids will focus so much on the screen and forget to take breaks. As a result of prolonged gameplay without breaks, kids begin having eye irritation and eye focusing problems. 

Focusing issues

Definitely, you love your kids and would be troubled at seeing them wear glasses or contacts at a young age. Since you want to help them in eye care, you need to understand how video games cause focusing issues as discovered in optometry.   

Your kids’ eyes have a different focus on a flat surface like a book and on a video screen. When they look at printed material, the brain and eyes coordinate and thus understand the exact distance to focus. On the other hand, eyes constantly change focus when looking at the video screen. 

As a result, the eyes get tired and can hardly focus for long on other things after the video screen is turned off. When your kids’ eyes begin behaving like this, even reading and doing homework becomes a problem.

Irritation

Since your kids will be absorbed in the video games, they may blink less frequently. Consequently, they will have an inadequate flow of tears and thus affect eye lubrication. This occurs since the muscle that closes the eyelids will not contract as it should. 

Whenever this muscle contracts and closes the eyelid, it causes the drawing of tears. Therefore, if this process is disturbed by less muscle contraction, meaningless blinking, the eyes will have inadequate tears to lubricate them. Eventually, your kids will have irritation and eye dryness.

Eyecare

As a parent, it is your duty to help your children with eye care since they are too young to understand it. Therefore, encourage them to take breaks after every 20 minutes of watching. These breaks may last for 5 minutes, whereby they can do something else. In the process, their eyes will focus on other things other than the screen.   

However, if you note that your kids have eye issues, it is advisable to seek professional help. You can visit Inland Valley Optometry, where they can get an eye examination. 
In conclusion, video games can ruin your kids’ eyes. Watching in moderation can help and it requires great discipline. Then as they grow, you should teach them how to conduct eye care without your presence.          

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