People are using their phones more and more these days and even babies are starting to learn how to play with them. In fact, you can often see parents or guardians entertaining their young kids with just a mobile device and the kid will be sitting quietly for hours. However, throwing a mobile device at the kid to entertain them is actually very bad for their health.
Source: Top 1 Health
According to Setn, a three-year-old girl from China has developed sight problems after living with her grandparents. That’s because she was especially lively and always wanted to play, but when her grandparents did not entertain her, she would often cry. So, her grandparents would simply take out their smartphones and switch on a cartoon film for her to keep her happy.
The child, Tong Tong, would immediately calm down once she starts watching cartoons so effectively, the phone was her babysitter. However, when they brought her to the hospital for a checkup before she entered kindergarten, they were shocked to discover that her visual acuity only had 0.2 left and she had to wear glasses to keep it from deteriorating further. This translates to about 200 degrees of short-sightedness.
Source: Projector
Children so young should not be having problems with their eyes but more and more kids these days are getting eyesight problems. The ophthalmologist told her parents that they should pay close attention to their kids while they are young, otherwise they could develop severe myopia when they get older.
Apparently, most babies are hyperopic at birth (physiological hyperopia), a defect that is corrected as the eye develops and as the child reaches adolescence. Hence, it is important to monitor this as the kid grows up because their vision doesn’t correct by adolescence, then it will persist for life and might even develop into myopia.
Source: Deposit Photos
One of the doctors said that this hyperopia is like the balance in the bank and if the child’s eye condition worsens, then they will develop myopia early. The eyeballs change shape while they grow so it’s important that you don’t overstrain the eyes. For now, Tong Tong can rely on glasses to correct her vision but if they still continue to allow her to use mobile devices so much, then she could have serious eye complications in the future such as glaucoma or even blindness.
Remember, parents! Don’t always use the phone to keep your child entertained!
Also read: 30yo Man Suddenly Goes Blind Due to Eye Stroke Likely Caused By Excessive Phone Use & High-Fat Diet
