Is Technology Stealing Your Eyesight?

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An epidemic of myopia, or nearsightedness, is occurring at younger ages. Too much screentime and not enough time outdoors have been pinpointed as the likely culprits.

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

• The way technology has infiltrated our lives, in many cases from morning until well into the night, has dramatically changed the way humans use their eyes in just a short blip of time
• The prevalence of myopia (nearsightedness) has increased in recent decades, especially in East Asia, and the numbers are expected to get worse in the next 50 years
• For some populations in Asia, especially university students, myopia prevalence is over 90%
• When a person is nearsighted, their eyeballs become elongated, an anatomical change that’s irreversible and increases the risk of serious vision problems, including blindness
• Home confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with worsening myopia in children
• No treatments are capable of curing myopia; prevention is a better option, and spending more time outdoors — and far less time on screens — is key, especially for children

Myopia, or nearsightedness, causes faraway objects to appear blurry while close-up objects look clear. One of the greatest risk factors for myopia is having a parent who also suffers from this vision problem.¹ As such, it’s long been considered a primarily genetic condition — until recently.