4 Effective tips to improve your kid’s eye health

The dawn of online studying has become the only way for kids to study in times of pandemic. Although it keeps students safe at home but poses a new risk to kid’s eye health due to increased screen time. While helping them in their assignments and modules can be a great help, plunging the risk of prolonged hours of screen consumption must be seriously considered.

From blue light glasses to quick eye-exercises, here are some quick tips to improve your kids’ eye health by reducing the effect of increased screen time.

1. Ensure a light-up studying space

One of the biggest causes of eye-strain is bad lighting. With a dim room, the computer screen brightness can force a kid’s pupil to dilate. Your pupils open up to let in more light, but if the room offers a bright ambiance, the pupils get smaller or constrict to let in less light and let the children study peacefully.

If the kids continue to study in dim light study space, dilation of the eyes for a long period can cause blurred vision for 4 to 8 hours and induce photophobia, glare, less contrast threshold, lack of accommodation, and high-contrast visual acuity.

So to reduce this kind of risk on your kid’s eyes, provide them with a proper and well-lit studying space that counters the screen brightness with room lightening.

2. Follow the 20-20-20 rule

It’s time to pass the baton of all the eye exercises you’ve been doing to your kids. Especially the most effective one the 20-20-20 rule.

This simple rule involves looking away every 20 minutes at an object that’s placed 20 feet away from you for a complete 20 seconds. To do this, tell your kids to put a reminder for every 20 minutes. The rule is very convenient where you don’t have to move away from your table, simply look at a different distance for some time.

3. Get them blue light glasses

Blue light glasses or blue light blocking glasses are known for eliminating high-energy, blue light from entering your eyes. A blue light ray is continuously emitted from the screens of computer, smartphone, laptops, and tablets. Which leads to numerous sets of eye conditions and discomforts such as eye-strain, headache, blurry vision, burning sensation, and many more.

Your kid’s experiencing eye problems while studying online for 2 or 3 hours must be noticeable by now. It often begins with temporary problems but then escalates into a bigger risk for eye health. To prevent such eye conditions and access a comfortable studying environment, blue light glasses are a great help. Whether you buy prescription glasses online or non-prescription, blue light coatings are available on all types of lenses.

4. Spend some time in sunlight

Winter is the perfect time to sunbathe, especially if you tend to spend a lot of time staring at your tabs and smartphones. Lack of outdoor time is also one of the main reasons why kids acquire eye conditions and discomfort. Spending some time outdoors in the presence of natural light can help to improve depth perception in kids. And while you are at it, doing some physical activity would also help to develop your kid’s visual-motor abilities.

Vitamin D from the sun would help to reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration and enhance deeper and quality sleep which your online learner needs right now. Just make sure that you wear sunglasses if there’s intense sunlight to prevent any damage from UV rays.

Lastly, work on reducing the screen time of your kid aside from following these helpful tips. And serve them a rich and nutritious diet that improves eye health, such as leafy veggies, kale, salmon, eggs, nuts, oranges, beans, tuna, collards, and others.