Although Jewish children and adolescents born in Ethiopia who came recently on aliyah received little or no adequate examination and treatment for ophthalmological conditions, they have fewer vision problems here than native-born Israeli kids. This surprising finding has been discovered in a first study of its kind by researchers at Assuta Ashdod Hospital, Ben-Gurion and Bar-Ilan Universities, Ziv Medical Center (Safed), and Emek Medical Center (Afula). Eye (credit: Harpreet Singh/Unsplash)Early reading, lack of screens may help eye healthThe study included 223 children and teens – 136 of them born here and 87 who came to Israel from Ethiopia. The authors suggested that Ethiopian kids were not exposed to smartphones, tablets, TV and other electronic devices so their eyes are better despite lack of care. Intensive use of electronic screens by young people is known to raise the risk of vision problems, including myopia and other refractive errors, they wrote.

Source: Ethiopian News May 24, 2023 12:07 UTC