Parents, tell your children to turn off their computers, smartphones, tablets and go outside.

Five senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch - help a person to know the world and interact with the environment. The most diverse is the information perceived by the eye. It is through this organ that we perceive the shape, color, lighting, and location of objects, although not everyone has perfect vision. Nearsightedness, myopia, is a vision defect in which the eye has a turning power or anterior-posterior axis greater than its size, and because of this, the image falls not on the retina (the back wall of the eye), but in front of it. At this time, a person sees well in the near distance, and poorly in the far distance. Yes, this is not just an optical defect. Screen addiction is considered one of the causes of myopia, both in children and adults.

Ophthalmologist, academic doctor of medicine, MD, of the academic clinic of pediatrics named after G. Zhvania of TSU. PHD - Manana Kikolashvili has made more than one article or report on the mentioned topic. We present his article, which was printed for the Hungarian Ophthalmology and Eye Research Open Access Journal - "Parents! Tell your children: turn off the computers, smart phones, tablets and go outside" from which you will learn a lot of interesting information about myopia (nearsightedness).

Myopia (nearsightedness) is one of the types of refraction, which occupies an important place among children's eye diseases. It appears as one of the serious causes of sharp vision loss in children and adolescents, and it is worth noting that this refraction has been increasing at an alarming rate in the last few decades. Myopia has become a serious problem for the population recently, because in some cases it is the cause of blindness.
Today, myopia has already become an epidemic in Central Asian countries. The disease affects 90% of the young population, of which 20% have high myopia, and in some European countries the prevalence of myopia is doubled. It is estimated by the World Health Organization that in 2050, 50% of the population will have myopic refraction.
There are several contributing factors to the development and progression of myopia, including: genetic factors, environmental conditions, and an increase in pupil size. In children who spend a lot of time with close objects, progressive growth of the eyeball is often observed. The latter is quite elastic during growth and development, and its extension in size is the response as a compensatory mechanism if the visual load is increased.

According to other researchers, one of the most important reasons for the explosion of myopia and its growth at an alarming rate is the intensive development of the education system.
Today, many studies have shown that spending a lot of time outdoors and being exposed to natural daylight prevents the development and progression of myopia.
According to a study published by the medical journal JAMA Ophthalmology, it was proven that children who spend a lot of time under the influence of daylight are 30% less likely to develop myopia than those who are indoors for a long time.
Also, according to other and other studies, it is suggested that the substance dopamine is released during daylight, which prevents the development and progression of myopia, although this is only an opinion, not a proof.

Researchers believe that screen addiction is the main cause of the myopia epidemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes a report stating that children and adults spend an average of 8-9 hours in front of screens, parents should protect their children from this modern trap. Specialists need to provide information that will increase parents' awareness of the negative impact of uncontrolled use of electronic devices.

Children and adults need more social relationships, because a large dose of "screen time" has a negative impact not only on children's vision, but also on mental development, social skills, behavior management, awareness, learning and cognitive ability. There are scientific research results that show that children who spend more than 2 hours a day in front of screens are 7 times more likely to develop attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
So parents, tell your kids to turn off their smartphones, computers, tablets and go outside.

TSSU c. Academic Pediatric Clinic named after Zhvania.

You can contact TSSU g. to the call center of Zhvania Pediatrics Academic Clinic at the number 577 29 34 66

Wish you health!