I was kind of surprised with some of the reported empirical evidence in this article. Basically it suggests that straining your eyes leads to myopia or near-sidedness.
I am far-sided and have been all my life, and though it used to be pretty mild and I could work at my job as a computer programmer without wearing glasses, it has gotten so bad now that I can hardly make out words on the computer screen without glasses, while I am still able to watch TV, drive, read anything other than small text and see everything else with out glasses and without difficulty. Stress if anything, has made my eyes even more far-sided.
I think there may be some truth to eye-strain affecting eyesight, but I am not sure the only result is myopia.
“The truth does not make a good story; that’s why we have art.”
Hardly scientific, but I’ve been slightly near sighted for about 25 years. In the last 18 years, I’ve used a computer for many hours a day nearly every day. My vision has not changed in 25 years. I certainly go through periods of extended use where I suffer from eye strain that temporarily deteriorates my vision, but it’s always temporary.
Watching TV too close can contribute to eye strain because the image is generally not defined well (it’s pixelated). This should improve with HDTV.
There are other health hazzards that may be associated with TVs (not computer monitors and not newer TVs). The CRT is a source of low frequency electromagnetic radiation that has been linked to cancer - so it’s probably a good idea to keep your kids from sitting too close to the TV during their Saturday morning cartoons. Your computer monitor and some modern TVs have special shielding to prevent the escape of the radiation.
I can’t see why TV would be any worse than reading. If anything it would be easier on the eyes because there’s guaranteed light.
Focusing on any one distance for a long time might cause the little lens muscles to become used to it, but I doubt it.
If anything, I’d say watching TV or computer monitors would help atrophy the peripheral vision. Hours adding up to years of staring at a small rectangle might affect the ability to see things off to the extreme left or right.
Any eye docs out there can confirm or deny?