Hyderabad (Telangana): Children and students who spend long hours watching games and comic shows on cellphones or laptops are at risk of significant eye damage, shows a study by Sivaram Male, an assistant professor at the Central University of Hyderabad (HCU), showed. His research highlights alarming issues such as retinal problems, colour vision deficiency, and an inability to recognize natural colours, all of which are becoming prevalent among the youth.
The study highlights some children can no longer differentiate between natural colours—such as mistaking green mango leaves for pale yellow—and are unable to tolerate sunlight, often turning their eyes downward. The research that tracked hundreds of children over several months, revealed that these problems have increased four to fivefold over the past five to six years.
As part of his study on ‘Color Vision Deficiency,’ Male developed a tool called ‘Rishiva Color Illusion Prototype’ app, which was recently published in the Indian Patent Office Journal. His findings indicate that two out of every five people in metropolitan cities and one out of every five in rural areas are affected by vision deficiency. The situation has worsened due to inadequate screening mechanisms in schools and colleges.
According to Male, untreated vision problems among young children can lead to costly surgeries down the line. To combat this, he created a software, ‘Rishivi’, which can detect the percentage of colour vision deficiency and help in early diagnosis.
His aims to reduce the need for spectacles among students. A preliminary report of the research was presented six months ago at the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences at the White House in the US, fetching international recognition.
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