“The pandemic with the consequent home isolation, without being able to go out and play sports, and then Dad to study in front of a PC or tabletthey did increase the prevalence of myopia among boys. Difficult to stop this trend, with the very young who stay up to 16 hours in front of a small screen. In 2030, forecasts say, 50% of the world population will have a problem of myopia. “Stanislao Rizzo, professor of Ophthalmology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome and director of the Ophthalmology Unit, underlines this at beraking latest news Salute. of the Gemelli Irccs Polyclinic Foundation. Can parents change this trend? “I don’t think so, now the smartphone is a kind of babysitter – warns Rizzo – while children should play outdoor sports. But on public transport we see them all attached to mobile phones and this damages their eyesight “.
From Rizzo comes a proposal to intercept the problems at the sight of the very young. “You should have an eye examination at school – he explains – At one time all children at 4 were brought in front of a billboard and asked to read, in this way it was discovered who already had myopia, who had a lazy eye or squint. I would say that an ophthalmologist must be checked for younger children in September “.
The director of the Ophthalmology Operational Unit recalls that “in Lazio pediatricians are invited to check the red reflex in the eyes of newborns and this is already a first check of the health of the retina”. The vision “takes shape from 0 to 6 years”, Rizzo recalls, “so let’s try to help the children in this phase, let them stay outdoors and minimize the use of mobile phones”. On the front of research and therapies against myopia “today there are two paths that are struggling: that of the drops of atropine with very low concentration that can be done in children in whom myopia is growing, and the second path of peripheral defocusing which “, thanks to slow details,” can slow down the progression of myopia “.