Beware! The Majority of Students in Tulungagung Experience Eye Disorders Due to Gawai Addiction

Officers test reading ability at a certain distance to check the eye health of students (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The trend of vision disorders in school-age children has now reached an alarming stage. The Tulungagung Regency Health Office reported that the majority of students who underwent Free Health Check (CKG) throughout 2025 were detected to have visual abnormalities or minus eyes (myopia).

The main trigger? Intense use of gadgets (smartphones) from an early age.

The Threat of Myopia in School Age

Head of P2P at the Tulungagung Health Office, dr. Aris Setiawan, revealed that this examination targeted around 183 thousand students from elementary school to high school. The results were surprising: vision impairment dominated the medical findings in the field.

"The majority of children have visual abnormalities. In addition to anatomical factors such as the shape of the eyeball, the habit of the duration of exposure to the screen of the gadget that is long is the most dominant cause," explained dr. Aris, Friday (16/1).

Bad Habits that Damage the Eyes

The Health Office highlights several risk factors that accelerate the decline in vision function in children today:

Lack of Outdoor Activities: Children spend more time in front of the screen than playing outside.

Salah's position: The habit of using gadgets while lying down.

Minim lighting: Using electronic devices in a dark room that makes the eye muscles work extra hard.

Apart from eye problems, CKG also found indications of other chronic health disorders in students, such as prediabetes, prehypertension, and respiratory disorders.

Tips to Prevent Eye Damage in Children

To reduce the number of myopia, the Tulungagung Health Office provides several practical recommendations for parents and students:

Limit Screen Time: Reduce the duration of using your device every day.

Rest your eyes: Use the method of looking at green objects in the surrounding environment periodically to relax the eye muscles.

Adequate Lighting: Make sure the room has adequate light when studying or using electronic devices.

Medical Consultation: If your vision starts to blur, immediately use glasses according to the doctor's advice so that the disorder does not get worse.

The Health Office has now coordinated with the school to communicate the results of this examination to parents so that the control of the use of gadgets at home can be tightened for the future of children's health.