Screen Time Linked to an Epidemic of Myopia Among Young People

Rates of nearsightedness have skyrocketed, raising the risk of more serious eye problems

Today’s young people don’t play outside as much as their predecessors and are heavy users of electronics. Shutterstock

More young people are wearing glasses to correct nearsightedness, a trend that has prompted fears that the use of computers, tablets, and smart phones is damaging eyesight at epidemic proportions.

Forty percent of North Americans are affected by myopia, a number that doubled between 1972 and 2004 and continues to grow at a rate that qualifies the phenomenon as an epidemic.