During the COVID-19 pandemic, education programs for Indonesian children underwent a 180o change. Children who usually go to school and meet their teachers and friends, now have to stay home and communicate mostly through the screens of smartphones, tablets, or laptops. Such extreme lifestyle changes in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic have had negative effects on children’s health, particularly their eye health.
In light of World Vision Day 2020, which carries the theme “Hope in Sight”, it was reported that around 2.2 billion people experience visual impairment, and among them 1 billion cases of impairment should have been preventable. Based on data from The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, every day 3 out of 4 people experience visual impairment.
Myopia or nearsightedness is an eyesight problem that makes distant objects appear blurry. One of the more common causes of myopia that became prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic was the habit of reading or staring at a smartphone, tablet or laptop monitor at close range. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a recommendation that children aged below 5 years should ideally use electronic devices for less than 1 hour. Meanwhile, The Children’s Eye Foundation does not recommend children aged below 2 years to use electronic devices. Meanwhile, children aged 2-5 years can use electronic devices for 1-2 hours, with breaks in between.
Some of the signs and symptoms of myopia in children are:
- Squinting often
- Frequent rubbing of the eyes
- Sitting at the front row of the class
- Poor or declining test scores
- Viewing the TV or electronic media at close range
- Has no interest in activities that require distance vision
The following are effective tips for parents to maintain their children’s eyesight while they’re taking classes online:
- Encouraging your child to rest for 20 seconds after 20 minutes of looking at the monitor screen
- Remind your child not to forget to blink
- Adjust the position of the monitor screen so that it’s as far as 40-60 cm from the eyes
- Teach your child the proper and correct sitting position, by adjusting the monitor screen so that it’s at eye level
- Avoid using your tablet or laptop in a place that is too bright
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