Screens and children, watch out for Christmas gifts

As the Christmas dates approach, we all begin to look for the ideal gift for each member of our family. But if a gift is made to a child, special care must be taken, since they are at ages of physical and mental development and growth, and overexposure to a negative stimulus, could mark its evolution.

So, in this article we are going to focus on screens and children, Be careful with Christmas gifts. That is, we will explain the problems that screens can cause in children and, in addition, we will give you some tips to avoid them.

Problems caused by screens to children

Overexposure of children to screens electronic devices or viewing them without an adequate distance can impair eyesight.

One of the problems The most frequent that may appear is visual fatigue . This phenomenon occurs when we look at something closely for a long time and the eye muscles become overloaded from the effort, even becoming blocked.

And this fact is increasingly more valid. For example, the National College of Opticians-Optometrists of Spain (CNOO) has warned of the danger of overexposure to these devices and I have recommended that parents control the time their children use them.

For more information on the subject, We have consulted the experts at Natural Optics and they have indicated that it is essential to establish a exposure limit to screens by the little ones, as well as the importance of the periodic reviews from 4 years old, to be able to see that its development is normal and detect any anomaly in time.

In case of finding any problem, recommend the use of contact lenses or glasses adapted to help correct it.

Tips to avoid these problems

And although screens can be harmful to your eyes, by following some basic recommendations you can reduce the chances of that happening to your child. Pay attention to these tips:

• Good lighting in the room : One of the most frequent eye strain appears when looking at an image, text or object in low light for a long time. For this reason, it is important that you correctly adjust the lighting of the screen and that of the passenger compartment where you are.
• Avoid reflections : It is also important that the screen is sharp and the images are clearly visible that appear in it. Therefore, it is better that no light is reflected.
• 20-20-20 rule : If your child has been staring at the screen for a long time, suggest that they do the 20-20 rule -twenty. That is, every 20 minutes that you have been using near vision, you must rest for 20 seconds looking at a place that is 20 feet away, the equivalent of about six meters.
• Correct distance : In order not to strain your eyes and cause problems such as fatigue, temporary blurred vision or difficulty in focusing, you must position yourself at a suitable distance. This is a minimum distance of 30 cm for mobiles and tablets, and 50 cm for computers or game consoles