The eyes of modern children suffer from childish stresses. Modern children read more and more, watch TV, get to know smartphones and tablets early and sometimes spend too much time in front of them. It is not surprising that the decrease in visual acuity in children takes on the character of an epidemic, and primarily in the group children from prosperous families who have more opportunities to acquire electronic carriers. It is naive to hope that over time the child will "outgrow" the problem, and his vision will normalize with age: many cases of childhood myopia develop into adult myopia. Meanwhile, good vision is necessary for a child to adequately perceive the world around him.
Simple preventive measures
Like any disease, childhood myopia is easier to prevent than to cure later. Prevention measures are extremely simple and accessible to every family. First of all, it is necessary to equip a comfortable workplace for the child, which will be well lit. And you need to do this even before school: drawing, modeling, preparing the hand for writing, teaching letters and syllables, developing games on the tablet - a serious burden for children's eyes. The light on the desktop should fall from the left (right, if the child is left-handed) so that the working hand does not cover the sheet of paper while writing or drawing. Lighting should be soft, not create glare from the surface of the table and paper, in the evening, in addition to a table lamp you need to turn on the chandelier, so as not to create a contrast between a dark room and a bright spot of light on the work location.
Particularly noteworthy are gadgets that are becoming more and more popular. It is important to immediately determine the time during which the child can work with the tablet or computer without interruption. It ranges from 15 minutes for a primary school student to 40 minutes for a high school student. Then you need to interrupt, do gymnastics for the eyes or take a walk.
Gymnastics and vitamins
Gymnastics for the eyes is useful at any age; for children, its importance cannot be overestimated at all. A simple set of exercises (look up and down, right and left, rotate your eyes clockwise and counterclockwise, close your eyes tightly at a few seconds, and then open your eyes wide) you can teach even a three-year-old child in a playful way, making gymnastics useful habit. By regularly interrupting work associated with eye strain with such gymnastics, you can avoid a decrease in visual acuity, even if the visual load is great.
In addition, for the health of the eyes, it is necessary to ensure the intake of a sufficient amount of a number of vitamins and biologically active substances into the body. Eating a healthy diet with lots of vitamins and antioxidants is essential. In particular, blueberries, liver, egg yolk, all red, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, spinach are good for the eyes. In addition to the daily diet, it is necessary to provide the body with the necessary vitamins, special multivitamin complexes are called upon, for example, specially designed for eye health Dietary supplement for food "LUTEIN-COMPLEX® Children's" - a multicomponent product, which contains substances necessary for normal functioning organs of vision in a child: lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, blueberry extract, taurine, vitamins A, C, E and zinc. A set of biologically active components, carefully selected taking into account the needs of the organs of vision, provides antioxidant protection to children's eyes, which is especially important at the age of 7 years and older, when the first serious visual loads begin in elementary school, and reduces the risk of developing eye diseases in children.
Nowadays, the eyes of children experience significant visual stress, but a well-planned schedule of classes, carefully equipped workplace, special gymnastics, proper nutrition and vitamin support will help to keep the sharpness vision.
Natalya Namzhiltsyrenova, ophthalmologist, Family Doctor clinic Moscow
