Our abrupt change to a lifestyle on screens means we're learning about the consequences as we live them.
Shortsightedness due to screen time is a global health concern, but dry eye disease is another less well-known risk that can lead to severe and progressive pain and discomfort.
Ophthalmology research fellow at the University of Auckland, Dr Alex Muntz is addressing the Sensible Screen Use seminar today.
Photo: Google images
He tells Jesse Mulligan the risks of the disease can be mitigated with some sensible precautions, but that institutional pressure in schools over using technology as a medium for learning is a concern when it comes to the disease.
“It’s a condition that mostly turns progressive and chronic within an aging population, so that condition really starts to decrease the quality of life. The tears on the eye surface just stop working as they should," he says.
In severe cases sufferers can’t open up their eyes for any length of time, leave the house, or do visual-based tasks, as they need to keep their eyes shut to avoid pain.
“It feels like sandpaper on the eyes and … some patients do actually present with suicidal ideation because of the impact it had and I think it’s understandable. That pain in the eye when it gets that severe, can be quite a burden on life.”
He is reluctant to advise on how much screen time is 'safe' and doesn't want to cause unnecessary anxiety. But what concerns him is statistical studies showing people are suffering from the condition much earlier in life than before, as technology-based activities increases in society.
“Screen time is just one of many, many risk factors that can drive the onset and progression of dry-eye disease," he says.
"After a long day your eyes will be dry, but you’ll wake up in the morning you’ll wake up and you’re fine. Your eyes have what we call functional reserves, so you’ll recover.
“What we are seeing is though that in younger people who have a much earlier onset in terms of extended screen time, day in day out, we are starting to see changes in the way the tear cells... and the structure of the eye on the surface, that is very similar to our older patients, our typical dry eyes disease patients.
“That’s where we’re seeing these trajectories, with a significant lifestyle modification, extended screening daily to tie in with some of these changes in the eye structure and the way it functions."
He says a study of 1000 kids and young people in London before Covid-19 showed that with every additional hour of daily screening reported his research team found the risk of being diagnosed with dry-eye disease in the long term increased by 15 percent.
The risk can be exacerbated through something like a pandemic lockdown, which brings more screen time.
The generalisation that screens are bad is wrong and if done in moderation people are usually, he says. But balance in needed, away from our enthrallment to everything tech, particularly in New Zealand, he adds.
There is evidence New Zealand has some of the highest rates of screenings in schools and educational facilities, including in early years, Muntz says.
"Whereas elsewhere in parts of the world we’re seeing restricted elimination strategies to reduce or eliminate screenings in education."
Ministry of Health guidelines recommend zero recreational screen time for children under two, less than an hour per day for kids aged two to five, and fewer than two hours per day for those aged five to 17. The World Health Organization guidelines also advise no screen time under the age of two.
But there’s institutionalised pressure against sticking to screen-time limits, particularly in educational environments and parents need to be realistic to a degree, Muntz says.
“We need to start somewhere and we need to start these discussions and looking at some of the evidence that is emerging that will take a long time to settle, if it ever will because it is a complex issue, and start looking at our imbalances, we are all individual and how we use screen time, the content we use, the type of risk factors and the objective factors we all have.
“So, it’s hard work that we all individually need to do and start the conversation around that.”
His approach to his own kids on the issue is, so long as screen time does not displace other activities in normal lifestyle – physical activity, a minimum of two-to-three hours outdoor time and sunlight and exposure for the development of the eyes, social activity - screen time won’t do harm.
Putting a number on the hours of use remains hard, but Muntz suggests taking a 20 second break every 20 minutes and keep the screen a safe distance away from the eyes to avoid risks associated with screen time.
