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The myth stems from the1960s, when a company sold faulty colour televisions that emitted excessive amounts of radiation due to a factory error

MOST of us will be familiar with our parents telling us off for sitting too close to the TV for fear wed end up with square eyes.

But it turns out there is zero truth to the myth that putting our faces too close to the screens is damaging toour eyesight.

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While it may land you with a headache, its certainly not going to impair your vision.

So where did this bizarre ruse come from?

The myth actually dates back to a time in the late 1960s, when for a brief period sitting too close to the TV could actually cause you some harm that is, if you owned aGeneral Electric set.

In 1967, the company admitted that many of their colour televisions were emitting excessive radiation,due to a factory error.

At the time, healthofficials estimated the amount of dodgy x-rayscoming from these defective TVs was around 10 to 100,000 times higher than was then deemed acceptable.

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As a result, they recommended keeping kids a safe distance away.

They pointed out that as long as you put several feet between you and the TV, and didnt watch it for more than an hour at a time at close range, most likely youd be fine.

Eventually General Electric recalled the faultyTVs and fixed the problem by addinga leaded glass shield around the tubes.

This made pressing your nose up against the screen perfectly safe once again, though the stigma has lingered to this day.

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While sitting close to the TVmay not make a person nearsighted, the reason they feel the necessity to sit in such close proximity may be because they are nearsighted and undiagnosed.

If you or your child habitually sit too close to the television for comfort, it might be worthwhile getting your eyes tested.

Watching too much TV may also cause eye strain and fatigue make sure you turn it off early enough to get a good nights sleep.

Think youve got expert vision?Only people with superb eyesight can see these virtually invisible objects in this test.

Last year we told how toddlers who watch too much TV grow into antisocial misfits who can become violent at 13.

See more here:
It's a myth that sitting too close to the TV damages your eyesight, and here's why - The Sun

This entry was posted on February 19, 2017 at 6:45 am and is filed under Eye Sight & Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |