When
you see kids continually hunched over their Smartphone or iPad, you can’t help
but worry what all that time is doing to their posture, social skills, and
grades. But more and more, experts are worrying what it is doing to the vision
of youngsters.

Dr.
Joseph Clark, a professor of neurology and rehabilitative medicine with UC
Health, worries that it’s shrinking it. The visual field is being
artificially restricted,” Clark says. “If you train your eyes or use your eyes
in only a narrow visual field, which will become your limitation.” If the
peripheral retina receives less stimulation, then it will be under-developed.

What
about nearsightedness, or myopia? The percentage of people ages 12 to 54 that
are nearsighted – meaning unable to see things clearly at a distance – rose
from 25 percent in the early 1970’s to 42 percent now.  Dr. Karla
Zadnik and other researchers took on the topic, they didn’t see the connection
to “near work” – reading and other close-up activities – they had expected.
What they saw was a common factor among kids who weren’t myopic – and that was
more time spent outdoors.

So,
is it the benefits of sunlight versus indoor lighting, the influence of vitamin
D, the visual benefit of viewing objects at a distance outdoors, a reduction in
visual stress? Zadnik, associate dean of Ohio State University’s College of
Optometry, believes “there’s something magical about the out-of-doors.”

I
believe balancing screen time with active time outdoors isn’t just good for
young peoples’ waistlines and social skills; it’s also likely good for their
eyes.