Rise in childhood short-sightedness linked to increase in screen time and time spent indoors during COVID-19 lockdowns

More time spent indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused a significant rise in childhood short-sightedness, according to a new Hong Kong study.

Published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, the findings were based on the ongoing Hong Kong Children Eye Study, which continually researches the eye conditions of children aged six to eight.

The study found that 19.5% of the 709 children recruited at the start of the pandemic (between December 2019 and January 2020) developed short-sightedness over the course of eight months.