Research shows just one hour of screen time increases risk of nearsightedness

Medical Xpress / HealthDay / JAMA Network Open ^ | Feb. 25, 2025 | Dennis Thompson / Ha A, et al

[ConservativeMind]

We need to look away from near things to focus on things that start getting blurry, farther away. When you do this, you are having to relax your inner eye muscles to let the lens go back to normal.

You have to use muscle to see close, but your eye muscles get overused and we get used to that feeling and think we are fine.

Over time, we more permanently keep our lens bent and our eyeball grows a little more oblong or egg-shaped, and we are chronically near-sighted.

[ConservativeMind]

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[Enterprise]

I’m doomed.

[Jonty30]

I do too much internet time, but my opthamologist says my eyesight hasn’t changed in 35 years. I still have very near the vision I did when I was 18.

[Paladin2]

What if it is “held” 3 ft. away?

[Jonty30]

There is a correlation between education level and wearing glasses. The higher you go in education, the more people you will find, as a proportion, that wears glasses.

My ophthalmologist has told me that this isn’t true, but I’m not sure if I can believe him.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I’ll quit when I need glasses.

[Fungi]

Does that include you? Care to share your “screen” time?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Wonder what caused mine before screens were around?

[HYPOCRACY]

Double Jeopardy when you throw in masturbation.

[Big Red Badger]

You Got 5 Minutes...

[Jonty30]

Reading. The more you read, the more you set your eye muscles on permanent focusing.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Probable.

Although whether the reading caused the nearsightedness or if I read because it was one of the few things I could do with horrible eyesight is up for debate.

[lovingliberty1965]

So then what is the reason for people in their 40’s who have 20/20 eyesight and have used computers most their life?

[samkatz]

I guess using the screen to watch porn hub and spank the monkey means instant blindness.

[sauropod]

bkmk

[BobL]

All true, but the same is true for reading book or other printed material. On the other hand, ANYTHING to get kids away from screens is a good thing.

[BobL]

“My ophthalmologist has told me that this isn’t true, but I’m not sure if I can believe him.”

It’s like telling diabetics that they can continue to eat their carb-loaded meals...although at least I understand why that’s the case (more business as their bodies start falling apart).

But for the life of me, I don’t know why they make the claim about myopia, and I too have heard it. Come to think of it, though, maybe they figure if you keep reading, you’ll keep coming back for stronger and stronger glasses.

[Fungi]

It just goes to show, there’s always something. RIP rosanna rosanadanna.

[Revel]

Why does this study make no real attempt to define the issue. How do I respect them? Is it the lighting? Is it about the text size. Because some people have some huge monitors.

I can say this. I have reason to believe that all things related to LED lighting are damaging our eyes if we are staring into them. TV’s, Monitors, Light bulbs, And the Newer car headlights. They put out a certain light spectrum that is destroying out eyes over time. Also damaging our ability to see in the dark. Everyone will find out some day.