I brought my kid for a health check up recently and was horrified to discover he couldn’t pass the eye exam. Having had to wear glasses from a young age myself (the age my own kid is at right now actually), and being predisposed to myopia thanks to my Asian genes, I can’t help but feel somewhat guilty that my child has possibly inherited my short-sightedness.

Luckily, at such a tender age, kids’ bodies are still growing and adapting, and the die is yet to be cast.

Back when I was first diagnosed with myopia, my parents had me attend an eyesight camp (yes I kid you not) where I was taught eye exercises and even given a pair of pinhole glasses that would supposedly help reverse the diagnosis.

I am happy to share anecdotal evidence that a reduction in screen time and more outdoor exercise can truly help improve kids’ eyesight. After a similar diagnosis at an annual health check up, a friend of mine cut back on her child’s screen time, and pushed him to be more active. At the following year’s health check up, he received a 20/20 on his eye exam.

But with online learning in full swing for now, it may be tough to decree a reduction in screen time. That said, here are 5 ways you can still help your kid to prevent eye strain, which quickly lead to eyesight problems.

1. Schedule drinking breaks every hour

Proper hydration benefits just about every part of our bodies, and our eyes are no different. Plus, every time the child has to drink is an opportunity to turn away from the screen, if even for a few seconds. Since it’s way too much to ask a parent to yell across the house every hour for the kid to drink, set up an hourly alarm on a personal device such as the iPad to remind the kid to hydrate.

2. Snack time! 

Everyone knows we should eat carrots (or just orange foods) for bright eyes (it’s the beta-carotene and vitamin A in them), but there’s so many more foods that are rich in antioxidants that will aid our eye health. Kid faves include eggs (lutein), broccoli, red berries, kiwi fruit, tomatoes (all for Vitamin C), and fatty fish like salmon and sardines (EFA – essential fatty acids).

3. Look at greens!

So aside from eating their greens, now kids have to look at the color too! Research has proven that the richness of the color green is both mentally calming and spirit-lifting. Ideally, you can look at the natural green of nature around you, whether it’s a house plant or a nearby park, but even an artificial green color (like a wall painted green) can also help.

4. Eye exercises 

Whenever you can, grab a quick minute with your child and do some of these simple eye exercises together. Some of these also serve a mini-meditation breaks so it’s a win-win!

Moving eyeballs 

Call out different directions to move your eyeballs in – left, right, up, down, in a circle clockwise and counter etc. After you’ve demonstrated enough times, get your child to call out the direction to get them more involved.

Near and far

This one was one that I remember from eyesight camp! Go to a window and look for the furthest thing you can see, focus on it for about 5 breaths, then without moving your body, focus your gaze on the nearest object to you for 5 breaths again. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Blink, don’t blink

The straightforward idea of this is just to blink at different speeds (slow, fast) and not blink (eyes open). I love making a game out of this one with the kid to see who blinks first while we’re staring at each other.

After whichever eye exercise you do with your kids, close your eyes for about 10 breaths before resuming your day.

5. Massage 

Face massages aren’t just for sculpting the face, they’re also amazing for relieving the tension from the delicate facial muscles that work so hard. Check out the video for a simple demonstration of DIY face massage to help eye strain. Another good part to try to massage would be the base of the head where it meets the spine. You don’t have to be a certified masseuse to help your child. Just use your fingers to gently rub in circular motions and expand outwards from one spot for a minute or so. This can be a great way to help ease kids into bedtime as well!

KEEP READING: Online Learning Tips From Beijing’s International School Students

Images: Pexels

We’ve written before about the potential negative impacts on children’s health of both excessive homework and excessive screen time. Now the Chinese government has taken action, to tackle an alarming increase in myopia (near-sightedness) in children.

Over a third of Chinese fourth-graders, and nearly two-thirds of eighth-graders have poor vision, believed to be the highest rates in the world. Among other problems arising from this is the concern that in future China might have labor shortages in jobs requiring 20:20 vision, such as in aerospace and the military. Students in Chinese schools have for decades massaged the area around their eyes on a daily basis, but though this is believed to help with eye strain and headaches, there is no evidence that it prevents myopia.

Instead, recent research suggests that the true cause of nearsightedness, and the reason for the rising global incidence of the problem, is lack of natural sunlight. Scientists at the Australian National University in Canberra suggest that children should spend around three hours per day outdoors to protect their vision, although just 45 minutes a day can reduce progression of myopia by 25 percent. Their findings are supported by a remarkable study at a school in Taiwan, where children were made to go outside during their recess instead of having the choice of staying inside. At the end of the year, the myopia rate was 8 percent, compared to 18 percent at a comparable nearby school.

The Chinese government is in no doubt where the blame lies. Their new measures include a crackdown on online games, including tighter regulation, content ratings and a limit to how long children can play for – although it’s not entirely clear how the latter is to be implemented.

The other enemy is excessive homework. Schools have been ordered not to give written assignments to first- and second-grade children – although, as we’ve seen before, in this area even the otherwise omnipotent Chinese government is struggling to make progress against deeply ingrained ideas about education.

Whether the measures will be successful remains to be seen, but it’s further evidence of the toll being taken on our children by an unhealthy and unnatural lifestyle. We at beijingkids say: let the children play in the sunshine!

Photo: discovermagazine.com

Never in my childhood days did I imagine I’d end up using eyeglasses; I’ve always thought of them as dorky and nerdy. But eventually I needed them when I became myopic, perhaps because of playing video games late at night.

I wear my eyeglasses when outside, but not when I work or in front of a computer screen because I feel very dizzy. This condition, called eye strain or asthenopia, can be strong enough to make one feel sick.

To learn more about the condition, we invited Dr. Mandy Xu, an eye specialist at Beijing AIER Intech Eye Hospital, to this edition of Doctor’s Corner.

What should people wearing eyeglasses (or even those who don’t) do to lessen stress in the eye?
Dr. Xu: Let’s talk about the “dry eye” symptoms like eye fatigue, dryness, prickling, tears, photophobia, and other related discomforts. People experience these with the prolonged use of electronic products, or even when their work pressure increases, or rest and eating habits become irregular. Here are some tips:
– When you look at something without changing your vision for more than 1 hour straight, you definitely need to take some rest. Children should not look at a screen for more than 45 minutes a time.
– Keep the distance between the eye and the screen at least 35 cm.
– When reading or using electronic products indoors, be sure to turn on the lights, especially if natural light is insufficient.
– Young people who are used to looking at their mobile phones before going to bed at night should turn on the lights.

How does blinking and/or the use of eye drops help relieve eye fatigue?
Dr. Xu: People blink 15-20 times a minute, but with the use of mobile phones, it drops to just 5-10 per minute or less. The decrease in blinking time means the eyelid cannot smear the tear across the surface of the eyeball in time. Tear evaporation will lead to the increase of tear osmotic pressure, dry eye, serious inflammation of the conjunctiva and cornea, and even ulcers.

Effective blinking can relieve symptoms to some extent. Eye drops can only play a temporary role in lubrication, but they cannot fundamentally solve the problem of dry eyes. And long-term use of some eye drops can also aggravate the symptoms of dry eyes. Therefore, if dry eyes, fatigue, and other discomfort appear, it is recommended to go to the hospital and take regular treatment under the guidance of doctors.

Speaking of going to hospital, can you tell us more about a comprehensive eye exam? Do you recommend it for younger children?
Dr. Xu: With the pace of work and psychological pressure increasing especially nowadays, many young people develop eye diseases earlier they used to a couple of years ago. But for many eye diseases, early detection and timely treatment are key to prognosis.

The critical stage of children’s eye development is before 3 years old, and the sensitive period is up to 9. At these stages, it is very important to protect the eyes and treat problems in time. Children’s visual acuity is in a dynamic development process, and screening can find problems such as congenital ophthalmopathy, ametropia, amblyopia, strabismus and other problems.

In addition, many eye diseases and systemic diseases are inseparable. For example, some patients with serious diabetes have fundus hemorrhage, a type of diabetic retinal vascular change that can be diagnosed. The causes of early glaucoma can also be found through physical examination. These diseases can cause severe visual impairment, some of which are irreversible. Some people, such as those who live in highland areas; those engaged in driving, sailing, aviation, observation, and other atmospheric environments; or those exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation; or engaged in welding and working under ultraviolet disinfection lamps are at a higher risk of developing a cataract. It is necessary to have a regular ophthalmic examination and fundus examination for patients with hypertension and diabetes.

About the Doctor

Dr. Mandy Xu is an eye specialist at Aier Eye Hospital and the hospital’s special outpatient doctor. Her expertise includes diagnosis and treatment of common eye diseases. Dr. Xu was awarded a gold medal of Overseas Services by China Youth Volunteers.

Beijing Aier Intech Eye Hospital
Mon-Fri, 8.30am-4.40pm. 5F International Clinic, Panjiayuan Building, No. 12, Nanli, Panjiayuan, Chaoyang District. 北京市朝阳区潘家园南里12号潘家园大厦，北京爱尔英智眼科医院5层国际门诊部 (400 600 7911, en.aierchina.com)

Photo: rawpixel.com via Pexels, Beijing Aier Intech Eye Hospital

I’m blessed, and simultaneously cursed, with a voracious reader. My daughter loves books. If she gets a pile of them on Monday, somehow by Wednesday she is ready for more. Until recently, I was begrudgingly fine with this, so long as she made heavy use of the library, second-hand books, and returned them to the shelves on her own.

Lately, however, she has been complaining about her eyes bothering her. Since this didn’t seem to go away after a week, I took her to an optometrist at Beijing United Family Hospital. The short version of the visit is that my kid is reading too often for too long and needs to take more reading breaks. The doctor’s recommendation was that kids should take a break from reading, homework, or any close up activity after 30 minutes and do something that requires them to look into the distance. The doctor suggested going outside to play or at least look out the window for a while (a while equaling 20-30 minutes). The worst thing the optometrist said kids could do for their eyesight is to use tablets or mobile devices.

Full disclose, although my daughter and I reviewed educational apps for kids, we decided over a year ago to restrict all screen time to two hours a week and only on the weekend. That was due to reading studies on the negative impact of mobile devices on the cognitive development in children. Now I find out that hand-held screens cause kids to focus too intently on things close up (much like reading books and doing homework) and may lead to near-sightedness.

Consequently, we are all paying more attention to how much girl-child is reading and making sure she takes reading breaks more often. Fortunately, she loves spring and is always eager to go outside and play. I just need to make sure she isn’t sneaking out with a book under her arm. I chalk it up to the catchall in parenting advice – moderation in all things. Even the good stuff.

Photo: abbamouse (flickr)

Today’s youth may seem privileged what with their easy access to dazzling touch screens and other interactive gadgets, but recent reports say that technology is taking a troubling toll, especially on China’s youngsters.

Last month, an article on The Economist noted that nearly 80 percent of 16- to 18-year olds are short-sighted, compared to the mere third of that demographic who struggled with the affliction in 1970. The article added that the trend is even more alarming among primary school students: from 20 percent in 2000 to 40 percent today, more than quadruple the rate of such children in Germany and the U.S.

The story went on to site a study of 15,000 Beijing children, which concluded that "poor sight was significantly associated with more time spent studying, reading or using electronic devices, along with less time spent outdoors.” The piece said that myopia— the extreme instance of this condition that blurs anything outside of one’s 16cms of immediate vision— has become a new norm across Asia, affecting “… 80-90 percent of urban 18-year-olds in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.”

A post on healthxchange.com suggested key preventive steps like taking five minute breaks for every half hour of studying or work, use of good lighting and a routine of daily outdoor activities. It also said that parents who are concerned about their children’s vision should take note of “… frequent rubbing of the eyes, excessive blinking… squinting… and headaches from eye strain.” The International Myopia Prevention Association  touted those and other preventative steps, like regularly testing children’s vision by having them “…read a distant road sign or a newspaper held up at a distance.” It said that any ensuing difficulties should immediately lead to an optometrist appointment, adding: ”Don’t delay – otherwise there will be an irreversible overelongation of the eye.”

Myopiaprevention.org  says such proactive measures are crucial because the affliction has "no cure. It added that those already affected shouldn’t fear, because treatments like reading glasses are readily available. The aforementioned Economist story highlighted the broader social trends of Beijing’s rising myopia cases, describing our city’s famed glasses market as "a four-story mall crammed only with spectacle shops.” Hopefully that, and the vast range of cutesy frames available in stores and online, aren’t signs of complacency when it comes to our children’s eye care.
 

If you have concerns about your child’s vision, be sure to check beijingkids’ guide to optometrists.

Photos: Nicolas Alejandro Street Photogrpahy, Jenny Downing (flickr)

Chinese parents know all too well how handy iPads can be when it comes to keeping kids nice and (educationally) distracted – according to a Fudan University study (via Shanghaiist), 80% of the kids in the families they surveyed are "obsessed" with iPads:

Professor Cao Jin interviewed 100 children and their parents at a kindergarden in Yangpu District, finding that 42.6 percent of parents who owned an iPad bought it for themselves, half of them bought it for their children to use alongside them, and 7.2 percent of them bought an iPad strictly for their children.

… Many adults and children are becoming "obsessed" with their iPads, Cao said, to the point where "They cannot sleep without it," and 80 percent of children "reacted emotionally" when their iPads were taken away. Electronic devices are creating social barriers within the family household, Cao found during the survey. "Dad was playing computer games; mom was watching American soap drama while the kid was sliding his or her fingers on the [iPad] screen. No one talks to others anymore," Cao said. The survey showed that a third of children used the iPad between 30 minutes to an hour a day and 64.4 percent of children used it between 10 to 30 minutes a day.

The debate over the pros and cons of iPads and kids has been going on for as long as the device has been on the market, but no one can definitively say how and to what extent interacting with such devices are affecting children’s brains.

Last year at this time, the Wall Street Journal wrote:

A young child will look away from a TV screen 150 times an hour, says Daniel Anderson, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Massachusetts. His studies over the past 30 years also showed children have trouble knowing where on a TV screen to look. A well-designed iPad app is more engaging because often the place on the screen that a child touches is the same as where the action happens.

Many researchers hope this will help children learn. One study using an iPod Touch and sponsored by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop found children 4- to 7-years-old improved on a vocabulary test after using an educational app called "Martha Speaks." The 13 5-year-olds tested averaged a 27% gain. A study using a different educational app had a similar result, with 3-year-olds exhibiting a 17% gain.

But further down in the same article:

In many ways, the average toddler using an iPad is a guinea pig. While the iPad went on sale two years ago, rigorous, scientific studies of how such a device affects the development of young children typically take three to five years.

There is "little research on the impact of technology like this on kids," says Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The iPad and similar devices allow children to interact with technology at a younger age than ever before. Tiny fingers not yet old enough to manipulate a mouse or operate a videogame console can navigate a tablet touch screen.

… In the list of parental worries about tablet use: that it will make kids more sedentary and less sociable. There’s also the mystery of just what is happening in a child’s brain while using the device.

The brain develops quickest during the first few years of a child’s life. At birth, the human brain has formed about 2,500 synapses—the connections that allow the brain to pass along signals—per brain cell. That number grows to about 15,000 per brain cell by age 3. In later years, the number decreases.

The more television children watch during these formative years, Dr. Christakis says, the more likely they are to develop attention problems later on. The study was based on observation, not lab research, he says. Other studies haven’t found a correlation. While he hasn’t studied tablets and young children, he suspects the effect could be similar—or perhaps more significant. "One of the strengths of the iPad"—it is interactive—"may be the weakness," Dr. Christakis says.

It’s been over a year since this article was published and the jury is still out on what, exactly, is going on in those little brains as they stare entranced at those touch screens. No doubt those little synapses are firing and fusing as they learn from those apps and interactive stories, but at what point is all that tech-time too much and in fact, counterproductive?

There is nothing inherently bad with exposing your kids to technology at an early age (not too early, mind you) and as the Cooney Study suggests, there are probably very tangible educational benefits – if your 5-year-old wants you to read her an interactive story or play a numbers game on your smartphone, by all means, go for it.

But remember to follow a few simple rules of thumb – keep the brightness settings low and her screen-viewing time well under control (we try to stick with 10 minutes max each time, and never right before bedtime). You should also talk to your child about what stories and games she’s reading and playing – make sure the iPad is truly a learning tool and not just another barrier to communication. And most importantly, set the example yourself – there’s more to life than sitting transfixed in front of  a screen – get out of the house and spend due time (at least two hours outside, according to experts) with your kids.

We’ve done our fair share of covering iPads and apps for kids on this site, and for good reason – there are now literally tens of thousands of titles aimed at young children and their insatiable appetites for playing games on smart devices.

As any parent with an iPad can attest the explosive growth of the this industry should come as no surprise – after all, what more justifiable way to keep your restless kids absorbed and entertained than with a touchscreen tablet filled with "educational" games? (And yes, I’m using the term "educational" loosely here).

So now that kids and apps have become as integral a part of modern childhood as TV was for generations past (and present, in many families), it’s also not surprising to see an article like Hanna Rosin’s piece in latest issue of The Atlantic ("The Touch Screen Generation," April 2013). It’s a long one, but very much worth reading. Among the insights:

"… Technological competence and sophistication have not, for parents, translated into comfort and ease. They have merely created yet another sphere that parents feel they have to navigate in exactly the right way. On the one hand, parents want their children to swim expertly in the digital stream that they will have to navigate all their lives; on the other hand, they fear that too much digital media, too early, will sink them. Parents end up treating tablets like precision surgical instruments, gadgets that might perform miracles for their child’s IQ and help him win some nifty robotics competition—but only if they are used just so. Otherwise, their child could end up one of those sad, pale creatures who can’t make eye contact and has an avatar for a girlfriend."

To date, no body of research has definitively proved that the iPad will make your preschooler smarter or teach her to speak Chinese, or alternatively that it will rust her neural circuitry—the device has been out for only three years, not much more than the time it takes some academics to find funding and gather research subjects. So what’s a parent to do?

Despite these common misgivings, Rosin goes on to explain how in spite of the perceived intellectual passivity of electronic media consumption, the "cognitive interactivity" of many educational apps and even certain TV shows (i.e. " Blue’s Clues") can still be construed as "educational" for children – in other words, there’s more to that zombie-like expression your kids get when they’re absorbed in an app (or watching an educational TVshow, for that matter) than meets the eye. Research indicates that in many instances, kids are, in fact, learning from these programs and apps. But questions still remain as to how and why such learning is taking place.

I’ll be the first to admit that, for better or worse, I am as hooked on smart devices as they come – and no parent would wish a full-blown addiction on their children. But, as Rosin points out, I, too, want my children to "swim expertly in the digital stream that they will navigate for the rest of their lives" and if anything, I wish my daughter could actually use and learn from our iPad more.

To explain: Following doctor’s orders we strictly restricted my daughter’s iPad use after she was prescribed corrective lenses for her congenital far-sightedness. It seems that high resolution screens, especially ones with Apple’s much-touted Retina Display, is very bad for young eyes and we were warned against letting her watch TV or use iPads (Rosin’s article interestingly does not even touch on this issue).

This makes perfect sense and we have followed suit, but I can’t help but feel like she’s missing out on some fantastic learning experiences from truly well designed educational apps. Experience tells me that there are indeed a lot of great apps for kids out there and we have used some with our daughter in the past. Of course books and paper shouldn’t be discounted and we continue reading stories and drawing pictures with our daughter the old fashioned way, but the technogeek in me makes me yearn for the opportunity to have my daughter experience and learn from more apps and yes, even some TV shows (the quality ones like Leap Frog and Blues Clues, that is).

Hopefully my daughter’s eyesight will improve over time and we won’t need to be so cautious about her screen time (even now, we do allow her a few minutes here and there) – I’m sure there will be a day when she will be able to swipe away as much as all the other kids. In these regards I fully agree with Rosin’s conclusion: We do indeed live in a screen age and iPads and tablets are here to stay, it’s really up to us adults to determine our own comfort zones when it comes to managing our kids and smart devices – how our kids work it into their own lives is ultimately best left up to them.