Caution is better than short-sightedness!
Although the study situation is not yet 100 per cent clear, the trend is quite clear: there are more and more short-sighted children.
Why is that? It most likely has to do with the fact that children no longer spend as much time outside and therefore the time they spend looking into the distance is decreasing. Instead, children spend too much time indoors, use media for too long and look at their smartphones too much. It is assumed that this promotes short-sightedness.
The smartphone again ... it just keeps popping up in our videos and factsheets. And indeed, one of the major tasks of the current generation of parents is to maintain a healthy level of media and smartphone use - and above all to make sure that the children go outside!
The recommendation for preventing short-sightedness is to spend at least 80 to 120 minutes outside per day.
Once again, there is still no conclusive evidence on the subject. But there are clear trends that make it worthwhile to avoid this risk. "Better safe than sorry" or "Caution is better than short-sightedness".
Further interesting tips
Health letter
A somewhat more difficult topic today - but one that we paediatricians are very concerned about. Because we are very often confronted with the fact that we are supposed to give a child a "clean bill of health". In other words, we are asked to certify schools, nurseries or childminders: This child is healthy. But we can't do that.
Febrile seizure
Today we have a topic from the category "The Stephen King of paediatrics". In other words: sheer horror. It's about febrile seizures.
Certificates II
The days on which children receive report cards are important for families - and often difficult and conflict-ridden. So here are a few tips on how the day can go well.