In our modern culture, we are all exposed to screens more than ever before, adults and children alike. While the global pandemic proved the benefits of living in a digital age and allowed children to continue attending school and their parents to remain employed, there’s no doubt that children’s developing eyes are at risk for digital eye strain and fatigue in the same way as their aging parents. The reality is, reducing screen time isn’t always possible, and it’s likely that screen time will only continue to increase throughout their lives, so it’s important to instill healthy habits at a young age. In today’s post, we’ll offer a few tips to prevent digital eye strain in children that they can easily carry into adulthood.
- Minimize Blue Light
Blue light is the harmful light emitted by television, computer, tablet, and smartphone screens, as well as the sun that has a negative impact on your natural sleep-wake cycle and can affect your eyes. Even when you cannot reduce your screen time, you can take measures to limit your child’s blue light exposure. By using screen filters or blue light-blocking glasses, you can effectively reduce the amount of harmful blue light that reaches your children’s eyes. Viteyes Blue Light Blocking Glasses for kids are a great option.
- Take Breaks
Taking breaks during the virtual school day may not be as difficult to get your child to take as breaks from video games or using a tablet, but breaks are important to protecting eye health and preventing digital eye strain. If your child is using a screen for more than 20 minutes, encourage taking a two-minute break every 20 minutes, and longer breaks every hour. Resting eyes can include closing them for a minute or two or getting up and walking around the house. The best break is an outside break, in the fresh air and sunshine — for eyes, mind, and health!
- Limit Screen Time and Set Boundaries
If your child attends school online, it may be more difficult to set the screen time limits you’d like, but it’s important to set realistic expectations with your child and enforce them. For instance, if your child does attend school virtually, it’s not inappropriate to limit entertainment screen time to less than an hour in the day. Children who do not use screens throughout the day may be able to have more screen time in the evening or weekends, but set boundaries and limits. Regardless of how much screen time you permit, enforce breaks and blue light reduction interventions.
- Offer Eye Supplements
Eye supplements for the entire family are always a great place to start healthy habits. Begin offering vitamins with your kids and it will become a routine that will easily stay with them into adolescence and adulthood. At Viteyes, we offer eye vitamins and Blue Light Blocking supplements for your entire family, ages four years old and up. If you haven’t already started, order yours online today!
- Be The Example
Children don’t learn healthy habits — or anything, for that matter — by being told. They emulate what they see, and they repeat what is done often. If you expect your children to limit screen time, take breaks, wear their blue-light-blocking glasses, and take their eye supplements, lead by example and protect your eyes too!
At Viteyes, we are here to help you keep your Life in Sight™ and believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It is never too early (or too late) to begin protecting your child’s eyes from harmful blue light and digital eye strain. For more information about children’s eye health and digital eye strain, visit our online resources and browse our entire eye vitamin collection today.
