A new study shows that one in every two households in Israel has at least one child who wears glasses and that 17% of them are under the age of 6 and 70% are under the age of 14. In addition, close to 60% of children do not spend more than two hours a day outside, in sunlight which in previous studies has been shown to impact the development of myopia.
The study included 833 parents of children 6-18 years old. The study showed that 62% of the children who wear glasses watch digital programs for more than three hours a day. The study also showed that less than half of the parents were aware of the future risks of children having myopia.
It is recommended to limit children’s screen-time and to break up their screen time to no more than 20 minutes at a time and that they should try and spend more time outside.