Excessive use of digital devices leads to dry eye problem among children

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Houston: A new study has found that excessive use of digital devices increases dry eye symptoms among younger patients.

The more children stare at a screen, the less they tend to blink, which results in dry eye symptoms, because blinking helps stimulate the glands used to moisturise the eyes, said Dr Amber Gaume Giannoni, a local optometry specialist with the College of Optometry at the University of Houston.

The finding also showed that children as young as eight can spend six hours a day in front of a screen, as per reports by Xinhua news agency

Giannoni suggested that parents should set limits to their children's screen time and pay attention to such symptoms as forcefully blinking, eye rubbing and eye redness.

She also recomends a method of 20-20-20 to decrease digital eye strain, a 20-second break for every 20 minutes of staring at a digital device, and looking 20 feet (about six metres) away or somewhere off into the distance.

(With IANS inputs)