Smartphones are destroying students eyesight, believes Japan

Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has recently conducted a survey and found that the number of students with vision below the standard 1.0 score (equal to 20/20 vision) is at an all-time high of 25.3 per cent.

Over 67 per cent of high school students and more than 34 per cent of primary students didn’t meet the standard level which was expected to meet. The government is blaming the trend to “increased time spent staring at smartphone screens and mobile games.”

Japan is the world’s third largest gaming market and especially the smartphone gaming is huge in the country, according to market researcher Newzoo, and a large number of those gamers play mobile games (41 per cent of men and 32 per cent of women).

Experts have warned that extended periods of exposure to blue light which comes from smartphones can cause eye strain or fatigue.

China which is the world’s biggest gaming market has made an announcement and cited World Health Organization data suggesting the country has the highest rate of childhood near-sightedness in the world.

China has already threatened to take real action to protect children’s eyesight, including regulating the number of online games and new releases and limiting gaming time.