Screen time is damaging nation's visual health, warn opticians

One in five GPs and opticians believe that consumer technology is among the main causes of the rising eye health problems seen in the UK over the decade, new research from eye hospital group Optegra has found.

Compounding this statistic was the 45 per cent of opticians who said they had seen an increase in technology-related eye problems in the past five years.

Awareness of the problem among adults was well established, with 75 per cent of UK adults agreeing that over-use of technology has a damaging effect on eyes. However, parents allow their children to spend an average of two hours 54 minutes every day playing on games consoles, computers or tablets.