INTERVIEW
He urges the French to go and consult. After 55 days staying cloistered at home to fight against the coronavirus, "our sight has become a collateral victim of confinement", affirms at the microphone of "Sans Rendez-vous" the president of the National Association for the improvement of sight (Asnav), Bertrand Roy. Telework, VOD platform, video games ... For many of us, the average of eight hours of screen time per day for adults was greatly exceeded during these two and a half months. An increase which is not without consequence for our eyes.
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Look far to continue to see ... from afar
The ubiquitous blue light slabs in our lives have "boosted reading time up close", and even more in recent months. Too short a distance which will eventually turn into myopia. "When you look closely, you force on the muscles of the eye. Gradually it lengthens and you become short-sighted." This is why the specialist recalls the recommendation of his association: "A break of 20 seconds every 20 minutes to look away."
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One million people between 16 and 24 have never seen an ophthalmologist
If confinement is unlikely to permanently damage a person's sight, since it only lasted 55 days, Bertrand Roy nevertheless believes that "this is the right time to go and check up". An important control for adults, but also for children, even young. "75% of parents think that it is not useful to consult a specialist before 6 years of age, but there are diseases that develop before."
And also recall that a million people between 16 and 24 years have never seen an ophthalmologist, while "that adolescents spend an average of 13 hours a day in front of the screens".