Recently, a topic of "not recommended for children under 2 years old to see various screens" appeared on Weibo hot search, triggering heated discussion among netizens. From January 2 to 9, the reporter found through an online questionnaire survey that nearly half of the children of respondents in Nanning had begun to contact electronic screens before the age of 2. How often do they touch electronic screens? Why do you rely on electronics? How should parents guide their children? The reporter interviewed parents, ophthalmologists, and family education experts.
▲Survey results. Produced by Huang Jing, a reporter from the Southern Morning Post
Survey: 60% of children are hooked on electronic entertainment,
Nearly half play every day
A total of 919 people participated in the online questionnaire. When asked how old the child began to touch the electronic screen, the most were selected before the age of 2, accounting for 47%. As for the frequency of children's use of electronic products, 48% of respondents said that they use electronic products multiple times a day, and the duration of each use of electronic products is more than 15 to 30 minutes. Less than 20 percent of children use electronics for less than 15 minutes.
According to the questionnaire data, nearly 60% of the children of the respondents use electronic products for entertainment, and only 30% of them use them for learning. At the same time, the reporter found that there are many reasons that induce children to want to use electronic products, among which when parents have no time to take care of their children, children are most likely to pay attention to electronic products. In contrast, children actively use electronic products because of learning, accounting for only 10%.
▲Elementary school students are undergoing vision screening. Photographed by Jiang Xiaomei, a reporter from the Southern Morning Post
Doctor: The overall decline in children's vision in the past ten years,
Vision problems are becoming younger
Zeng Siming, director and chief physician of the Department of Ophthalmology of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Hospital, said that the People's Hospital of the Autonomous Region found in the vision screening of many kindergarten children in Nanning City that in the past ten years, the overall decline in children's eyesight has declined, and the refractive errors of young children (including myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism) have shown an overall upward trend.
Especially in recent years, the refractive error of young children in Nanning has risen from the original 12% to about 23% last year. During the consultation process, he also noticed that the patients who came to the clinic showed a trend of younger age, and more and more adolescents had myopia problems.
Zeng Siming pointed out that if adolescents face electronic products for more than 6 hours a day, they may also have video terminal syndrome, and their eyes will appear red, congested, dry, foreign body, and secretions. Mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices need to be viewed closer due to the small screen, which is more irritating and harmful to the eyes.
▲ The refractive error of young children in Nanning has risen from the original 12% to about 23% last year. Photographed by Jiang Xiaomei, a reporter from the Southern Morning Post
Parents: We all know that screens have an impact on vision.
But it is difficult not to let the child see it
"Electronic screens have an impact on vision, and we all know that it is unlikely that children will not be exposed." Ms. Liu, a parent, believes that in today's information age, electronic products such as televisions, tablets, and mobile phones have become necessities, and it is indeed more difficult to let children not look at various electronic screens.
In this survey, when asked whether adults would play with their mobile phones in front of their children, nearly 90% of respondents said yes. Some respondents said that because of work and other reasons, they inevitably want to use electronic products such as mobile phones.
Recommendation: Exercise in natural light for 2 hours a day,
Spend more time with more to cultivate more hobbies
Zeng Siming believes that from the age of 3, young children should have their first eye examination, and children and adolescents should have an optometry and eye examination every six months.
He suggested that parents of children aged 3 to 6 should keep in mind that outdoor exercise in natural light for two hours a day can effectively prevent myopia. Secondly, the video time is controlled within 20 minutes each time, and the cumulative length of watching the video every day should not exceed 1 hour.
Southern Morning Post reporter Huang Jing jiang xiaomei
Source: Southern Morning Post