Research shows just one hour of screen time increases risk of nearsightedness

February 25, 2025

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Each hour a person spends squinting into a smartphone or staring at a screen increases their risk of nearsightedness, a new evidence review suggests.

Every daily one-hour increment in digital screen time is associated with 21% higher odds of myopia, researchers report in JAMA Network Open.

"Myopia risk increased significantly from one to four hours of screen time and then rose more gradually thereafter," the research team led by Young Kook Kim, an associate professor of ophthalmology with the Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea, wrote.

The review suggests a "potential safety threshold of less than one hour per day of exposure, with an increase in odds of up to four hours," the researchers concluded.

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