Prior to the advent of remote schooling on electronic devices ushered in by COVID-19, doctors and researchers at the Children’s Vision Lab in the Back Bay’s New England College of Optometry (NECO) were concerned about how those devices might be contributing to nearsightedness (known as myopia) in young people.
Now, with vastly greater amounts of time spent looking at a device without breaks, the concern has grown even greater, and the researchers are conducting informational sessions around the city and also looking for volunteers to help them further study the issue.
Dr. Fuensanta Vera-Diaz with children at NECO’s Myopia Control Clinic in the Back Bay, where the researchers are educating and studying the growing numbers of children with nearsightedness – or myopia.