Flashing Toys Are Harmful to Babies' Vision, Choose Carefully
Nowadays, toys not only have peculiar functions, but also can emit twinkling colorful lights, which makes many children feel novel and interesting. Ophthalmologists believe that children should play with flashing toys in moderation, to avoid strong light damaging children's vision.
"Toys nowadays are really amazing, their twinkling lights are so beautiful. When I was a kid, I never had toys like this. I could even play with a soldier model for a long time." Mr. Gao, who lives on Wenhua Road in Shizhong District, just got home from a toy store. Seeing that the newly bought toy is so interesting, he sighed like this. His son's birthday is coming soon, so Mr. Gao bought some toys as a birthday gift for his son. "I heard that many toys nowadays are fun but bad for children's development. I don't know if the toys I bought are qualified." Mr. Gao voiced his worry.
On the morning of the 9th, a reporter came to a small supermarket on Wenhua Road in Shizhong District. In the toy section, the reporter found all kinds of toys, among which quite a lot have flashing functions. "The best-selling toys now are early education machines and puzzle toys. Look at this early education machine, press the button and it can automatically play children's songs, and the lights will flash at the same time. Many little kids love this function." The supermarket staff said that children are full of curiosity about cool and new things, and children's toys are designed and manufactured precisely according to this characteristic of children. "The flashing function can successfully attract children's attention and let them find happiness from it. As for damage to eyes, that's impossible. You can look directly at this light and try how it feels." According to the staff's suggestion, the reporter looked directly at the light of the early education machine. There was no discomfort at first, but after a few minutes, there was a phantom in the eyes and it felt a little uncomfortable.
During the investigation, the reporter found that flashing toys account for a large proportion of children's toys, more than 50% of children's toys have flashing functions. Among these flashing toys, some do not have production dates, only simple outer packaging, and some even have no outer packaging at all.
"There are so many toys for children now that I don't even know what to choose." Afterwards, the reporter came to the toy section of a supermarket on Junshan Road in Shizhong District, where he met Ms. Li who came to buy toys. Ms. Li said that her son especially likes flashing robot models. The family has already bought many kinds, but he still wants more. As for the impact of flashing on children's eyes, Ms. Li said she has not paid much attention to it. "Although this light keeps flashing, it is not as strong as a flashlight's light. It should not have any impact on children, right?" Ms. Li said.
Dr. Gao from the community service center of the Third Municipal Hospital said that different from adults, children's visual system is in the developmental stage and is very sensitive to external influences. The younger the age, the greater the damage will be.
"The vision development of children around 6 years old will become relatively stable. 3 to 4 years old is the sensitive period of vision development. Children at this stage must use their eyes less, do not read too much, look at mobile phones too much, or look at flashing things too much, and watch less 3D movies. Therefore, it is even more inappropriate to use flashing toys for a long time. Especially when used in a dark environment, it will give people a dazzling feeling, which can easily cause visual fatigue in infants and young children. In severe cases, it will also damage the fundus, cornea and lens. Especially some low-quality flashing toys are more likely to cause irreversible damage to the vision of infants and young children." Dr. Gao said.