Anti-blue light glasses, bedtime, awareness… Academicians draw up a list of recommendations. They warn against the use of screens, especially at night, for the health of young people.
It is for her a “public health problem”. The National Academy of Medicine release a press release on Thursday on the consequences of exposure to light from screens for children and adolescents.
If doctors recognize that digital tools are “a remarkable training and awakening tool”, they point out the dangers of “abusive use” of screens because it induces “retinal phototoxicity and dysregulation of the sleep rhythm- sleep”.
The dangers of blue light
First of all, the Academy of Medicine believes that exposure to screens before the age of three is not recommended. In addition, after this age, these practices must be “supervised by parents or educators and the emphasis must be placed on its interactivity and its playful nature”.
One of the adverse health effects is due to the nature of the light generated by screens. “The LEDs currently available emit a peak of blue light emission, close to ultraviolet radiation, the deleterious effects of which on the retina are known”, writes the Academy of Medicine.
Light from screens can damage retinal photoreceptors “providing fine vision, reading, writing and color vision”. The Academy of Medicine recommends the use of protective glasses against blue light.
“Social Jet Lag”
Academicians particularly warn against the use of screens at night. They thus explain that the retinal photo-pigments are consumed during the day to allow vision and are then regenerated at night “in darkness which must be total”. Therefore, exposure to screens at night inhibits this mechanism.
Beyond the harmful consequences on the eyes, the Academy of Medicine is concerned about the risk of “desynchronization of the internal clock” due to the use of screens at night.
“In these adolescents, the result is late sleep, linked to an increase in vigilance generated by a delay in the clock phase and to an inhibition of the secretion of melatonin, involved in falling asleep”, detail the doctors.
Consequence: children and adolescents develop sleep-wake rhythm disorders, also called “social jet lag”.
Protect children’s rhythm and eyes
According to the Academy of Medicine, 14% of college students and 29% of high school students sleep less than 7 hours on school days and a sleep debt is present in 26% of college students and 43% of high school students.
This involves fatigue in the morning on rising and impaired learning abilities linked to a decrease in alertness and attention, which can lead to a drop in school results.
Doctors also point to an increase in mood disorders (stress, anxiety-depression) and behavior with violence and hyperactivity, as well as metabolic disturbances (17% of boys and 11% of girls are overweight or obese at 11 years old ).
To protect the rhythm and the health of children, the Academy of Medicine recommends in its press release to “restrict, even proscribe, the use of screens during the night” and to “ensure the regularity of bedtimes and wake-up times” .
Beyond the wearing of anti-blue light glasses and the supervision of the use of screens, especially in the evening and at night, the Academy of Medicine recommends introducing awareness of the risks associated with screens into the school curriculum. and the importance of sleep, as well as raising parents’ awareness of these dangers. “The drop in school performance and the withdrawal of their children are two essential warning signs to which they must be attentive”, conclude the academicians.
