Not at all.
A study published in Eye evaluated 36 children 6 to 15 years of age for their symptoms, tear film quality, and blink rate while playing a video game for 1 hour.
What did they find?
Symptoms worsened following 1 hour of smartphone gaming, but tear film quality remained unchanged. Blink rate decreased from 20.8 blinks/min to 8.9 blinks/min, and interblink interval increased from 2.9 s to 8.7 s within the first minute of gaming relative to baseline. This effect remained unchanged through 1 hour of gaming.
The take home.
The authors conclude that, given the ubiquitous use of smartphones by children, future research should examine whether the effects reported herein persist or worsen over a longer term, thereby causing cumulative damage to the ocular surface.
See you next week!