Chris Bennett: Screens and e-cigarettes – dangers to health?

Public health is increasingly seen as the route to treat and change behaviour by government but traditional, evidence-based approaches to regulation and advice are increasingly outpaced by the rate of technological advance.

This week Optician looks at two public health topics practitioners will encounter every day that fall into that camp – screen use and smoking.
The time children spend looking at screens (In Focus, page 6) is up for debate once again following a high profile case in China. Despite the lack of physiological evidence it appears obvious that young children spending hours a day at a screen cannot be good for their general, ocular or mental health. Studies conducted today will be readily outpaced by the technology introduced tomorrow.