Hong Kong children spending up to 8 hours glued to screens, as 20pc of parents set no limits, eye care study finds
- DAB calls for more government control and prevention measures as it cites worrying trend in eye health of city’s youth
- Allowance for pupils’ eye exams and glasses among suggestions raised
More than half of Hong Kong schoolchildren spend more than two hours daily on electronic devices and, in the most extreme cases, up to eight hours glued to screens, according to a poll by the city’s largest pro-establishment political party.
The survey by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) also found that more than 40 per cent of pupils covered wore glasses, and one in five parents did not limit the time their children spent on devices.
The findings sparked concern about lack of eye health awareness among parents.
In all, 1,027 parents with children aged three to 12 were polled. DAB lawmaker Ben Chan Han-pan said some 46.8 per cent of children in the study had developed eye problems between the ages of four and six, implying that eye defects started earlier than previously thought.
Of the parents interviewed, 31.4 per cent said their children used mobile phones, tablets or computers for more than two hours a day. In the most extreme cases, 6.1 per cent said their children stared at screens six hours a day, while 2 per cent said the duration was eight hours. About 41 per cent of pupils in the poll wore glasses.
The situation tells us some parents are not aware of such issues
The numbers reflect a worrying trend of increasing eye problems in the city’s young, with a similar Chinese University poll last year finding that about 40 per cent of children polled had myopia at the age of eight.