Do excessive internet use, television viewing and poor lifestyle habits affect low vision in school children?

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine whether excessive internet use, television viewing and the ensuing poor lifestyle habits affect low vision in school children in a rapidly developing country. This is a cross-sectional study and 3000 school students aged between six and 18 years were approached and 2467 (82.2%) students participated. Of the studied school children 12.6 percent had low vision. Most of the low vision school children were in the 6—10 years age group and came from middle income backgrounds (41.8%; p = 0.008). A large proportion of the children with low vision spent ≥ 3 hours per day on the internet (48.2%; p< 0.001) and ≥ 3 hours reclining (62.4%; p < 0.001). A significantly smaller frequency of studied children with low vision participated in each of the reviewed forms of physical activity ( p < 0.001) yet a larger proportion consumed fast food (86.8%; p < 0.001). Highly significant positive correlations were found between low vision and BMI, hours spent reclining and on the internet respectively. Blurred vision was the most commonly complained of symptom among the studied children ( p < 0.001). The current study suggested a strong association between spending prolonged hours on the computer or TV, fast food eating, poor lifestyle habits and low vision.