This is an account from COVID days about how lack of outdoor time impacted my kiddo’s eyesight. I noticed that my child was constantly blinking her eyes as if they felt strained. She sometimes wore her sunglasses while watching TV and said that she felt better with it on. When it continued for a couple of weeks, we got an appointment at an eye center.

 Meanwhile, let me give a brief idea of what our life looked like during COVID. I am pretty sure this must have been the case in many homes. Still this account will be incomplete without a quick background.

We did not have any help or support. My husband and I tried our best to take turns to look after our kid who was just a toddler then. On most days there were at least a couple of hours when we both had to be in meetings simultaneously. And our kid ended up watching a lot of TV – a lot more than usual. Also, her outdoor time came down to almost nil. Like most parents we were also terrified about the new virus and its impacts.

The Revelation on Outdoor Time

Finally, when we reached the ophthalmologist, she did a thorough study of my kid’s eyes. She checked every single minute detail. We spent like half a day at the eye center, a long day out after a real long time.

The doctor was an aged lady, felt like a motherly figure. When she interrogated us about how often we go out, how long we stay outdoors and how long our kid plays outdoors, we were really falling short of her expectations. She reassured us that we were not odd ones out though. Most parents were doing just the same. Our kid’s eyes had gotten sensitive to bright light though. The primary reasons for this were lack of outdoor time, very little exposure to sunlight and screen time.

What suddenly made sense was that COVID may or may not impact us. The degree to which it could impact us is also something we could not predict. Nevertheless, if we continued doing this to our kid, her eyesight was sure to be impacted very soon. She asked us to just get out there, show the kid trees, birds, the sky, clouds, and talk to her about them all. This will not just help adjust her eyesight and brightness issues, but also stimulate her curiosity and help her grow intellectually.

The Transformation

That really was an eye opener. I really had no idea that outdoor time was so important. Later on, I started reading up more about it. I understood that lack of outdoor time could cause several issues in not just kids, but anyone, and not just myopia and brightness sensitivity. To be more specific, it can even cause psychological issues. As new parents these are things we were not aware of. So, I am assuming there will be a lot more number of parents who are in similar situations like ours. That is why I decided to share this account from our life with all our readers.

So get out there, enjoy with your kids and spend more time outdoors.

Go through our article on screen time to understand more about the recommendations by American Academy of Pediatrics.

Happy parenting!

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