Studies in humans and primates have also shown that appropriate daily intake of lutein provides protection to the eyes from blue light from screen time devices such as computers, televisions and phones. It has been well-documented that children are spending far over the recommended two hours screen time per day and excessive exposure to the high energy blue light associated with digital devices has been shown to cause both short-term and long-term visual damage as well as disruption to the sleep cycle. With a globally aging population, if this deficit is not addressed adequately early on in life then there will be substantial public health consequences. A recent study predicted that if individuals were to consume the recommended levels of lutein and zeaxanthin daily, there would be a seven percent reduced risk for age related eye disease and a potential savings of over five billion US dollars annually.
This is a single site, randomized, double-blind placebo controlled parallel arm study assessing the effects of 6 months lutein supplementation on cognitive and visual outcomes in healthy children exposed to excessive digital screen time.