Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12Page 5 ARTICLE BY: INVISION Staff 22 February 2017 A study links smartphone use to dry eye in children. A new study suggests that it's time to have your child put down the smartphone and start spending more time outdoors. Researchers found a link between prolonged smartphone use and pediatric dry eye disease, the American Optometric Association reports. They also found that outdoor activity seemed to hedge against the disorder. AOA explains: "In fact, children with dry eye symptoms who went four weeks without a smartphone actually showed subjective and objective signs of improvement." The Korean study, which involved 916 children ages 7 to 12, was published in BMC Ophthalmology. According to AOA: "Researchers postulate that a reduced blink rate during prolonged smartphone usage causes faster evaporation of the lubricating tear film, citing a separate study that found computer screen use versus reading reduced the blink rate to only 5-6 blinks per minute." Dr. Ida Chung, AOA InfantSEE and Children's Vision Committee member, said the study underscores the importance of routine, in- person comprehensive eye examinations for children. While this Korean study found up to 65 percent of children are using digital devices routinely, a recent study in the journal Pediatrics found that 97 percent of American children under age 4 use mobile devices. "Children with dry eye disease may be underdiagnosed," Chung said, reviewing the study. "I agree with the authors' conclusion that dry eye disease must be detected early and should be treated with appropriate intervention and education. The best way to ensure this happens is to have parents think about their children's eyes and bring them to their doctor of optometry for a comprehensive eye examination." Read more from AOA Join Us At Vision Expo With a special arrangement with Vision Expo East, The Opticians Alliance of New York is able to offer our members 2 free hours of continuing education, at Vision Expo East to be held March 30th to April 2nd 2017 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. You must be a member to obtain these credits. If you haven't registered yet go to our website www.oany.org and click on the link on the home page for Vision Expo. Follow all the directions to register including picking out the two free CE's. At the very end of the registration process you will come to the last page and you will notice that the charges for those courses will be a zero balance. If you wish to take any other courses those charges will be your responsibility. You will also notice that you will be able to receive lunch on those days that you attend Vision Expo. If any member wishes to have their office staff at the convention they can also register the regular way and use the promo code OANY17 to register and there will be no charge for that registration. We hope to see you at our booth, #2380 on the convention floor. Your OANY Officers Yet Another Reason to Make Your Kids Put Down the Smartphone and Go Play Outside Our March meeting will be held in the Philodendron Room which is right next store to our usual meeting room. We hope to see you there.