Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the fact that excessive exposure to digital devices was leading to a sharp increase in eye ailments among children in the country.

Speaking at the 36th National Eye Donation Fortnight event, he said excessive exposure of children to video games, mobiles, computers and television has been adversely impacting their eye health. Hence, there is a pressing need to regulate children’s usage of digital devices to prevent the adverse effects of excessive use of technology, Naidu pointed out.

He appealed to parents and teachers to take responsibility to wean away children from excessive use of devices and falling into ‘technology addiction’.

“There used to be an impression that perhaps urban school children are more prone to eye ailments. But now even in rural schools, we find some children suffering from myopia,” Naidu lamented.

In recent months, I have been stressing on the fact that growing gadget addiction among children is an issue of concern which needs to be addressed with urgency, he added.