SCREEN TIME IN LOCK DOWN PERIOD : HOW TO COPE ???

Hope you and your family are doing well and are safe.

Many of my patient's mothers are very worried about the increased screen time of their kids during this lock down period . They call me to suggest ways to keep their kids away from the visual display terminals.

In these times of lock down, screen time has increased kind of exponentially especially for the kids as the schools are having online classes for 3-4 hours per day and we cannot let them go outside to play, so even recreation is limited to playing games of the computer and watching TV .

Few suggestions as to how to cope with this situation

1. Instead of watching TV or computer continuously,  break it into small intervals of half an hour followed by  a break
2. Involve the child in art and craft activities
3. Play some board games with them
4. If your children knows Yoga,  ask them to do for yoga for sometime or just play some music and they can dance. This will also ensure some physical activity
5. Give them some task as cleaning their room,  setting the table or simple dusting the house
6. Encourage them to read a story book , this will go a long way in developing a reading habit. Intially, you may have to sit with them and read to them, but slowly they will discover the joy of reading .
7. Adults should also reduce their screen time as children will follow what they see.

Remember that too much of near work is an important cause for increase in the spectacle number especially Myopia. So take care and once this lock down period is over, do schedule an eye check up to make sure that your child is wearing the correct glasses

Take care and stay safe

Dr. Hemalatha Vidyashankar