Eye Spy a Trend: More Americans Have Poor Eyesight Than 30 Years Ago

photo by phr3qu3ncy

I was 9 years old the last time I could tell time from my bed. That year, my mother took me to the doctor and bought me a pair of plastic, lilac Fisher Price glasses. (And, no, Harry Potter didn’t exist then so glasses were not cool.) Ever since—and especially as my vision has declined to borderline blind levels—my clock has been a blur of bright red.

A new study, published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, says I’m not alone. More people in the United States are dealing with nearsightedness—the inability to see faraway objects—than ever before. During 1971 and 1972, 25 percent of 12- to 54-year-olds were nearsighted. Between 1999 and 2004, the percentage jumped to 42. The researchers don’t know the cause of the mass vision loss (the study just looked at data, not lifestyle factors of the men and women surveyed), but they have a guess: computers.

I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that logging more than eight hours in front of a computer each day was turning my eyes into Jell-O. Or something. Either way, my vision loss got worse faster as soon as I started my first job. Instead of spending most days in the classroom (staring at a faraway chalkboard), my eyes were focused on the bright screen. Five years later and I’m still parked in front of a computer every day. And I’m accumulating new prescriptions faster than I can pay for updated glasses lenses.

During my last yearly checkup, I ran my hypothesis by my ophthalmologist. And wouldn’t you know that I’m right on the money. (Scientific method, you’ve got nothing on me.) Apparently computer use is a very real cause of pathetic vision. His solution was for me to look away from the screen every 10 minutes or so. I should focus on something far away to give my eyes a break from the close-up screen.

The idea hasn’t really worked for me. For starters, if I took a few seconds every 10 minutes to glance around the room, I’d lose my train of thought so often I’d never finish a paragraph—let alone a full article. Secondly, since I don’t have a corner office, the furthest thing from me is the gray wall of my cubicle. And that’s only six inches further than the monitor. Not super helpful. My other option is spinning around in my chair and staring down the hallway. Now if I had a nice window to peer out of that’d be another story…

According to the study’s authors, the rise in nearsightedness brings with it a jump in health care costs because, they say, supplies like glasses, contacts, and doctor’s visits are costly. To which I add: No kidding.

Are any of you nearsighted? Have you found that computer use worsens your eyes?