Green time over screen time: how to look after your eyes

"The eyes are 'the lamp of the body'" reads a biblical phrase used here for good reason: eyesight shapes how we meet the world, and its loss can be shocking. "Blindness is a very scary disability," says Prof Lauren Ayton, deputy director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia.

She notes that about 90% of vision loss can be prevented or treated, and that maintaining eye health often comes down to diet, activity and regular check-ups. There is an emerging global epidemic of myopia in school-age children, with around one in three children and adolescents now short-sighted and that figure rising.

Concerns about screens are common, but "the direct evidence for screens in and of themselves being problematic is pretty, pretty weak," says Prof Allison McKendrick. More likely, screen use is replacing time outdoors. "Getting enough sunlight is actually important for the growth of their eye," says Dr Flora Hui; sunlight may trigger dopamine release and playing outside encourages focusing at distance.

Australia

eyesight, vision loss, blindness, myopia, short sighted, screen time, outdoor time, sunlight, dopamine, eye health