Surprising Findings about Nearsightedness
Nearsightedness, or myopia, is a condition in which the eye is longer than it is wide. This causes things in the distance to look blurry. The condition is often found in the form of progressive myopia, in which the sufferer’s vision continues to get worse over time.
Nearsightedness is easily corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses, and isn’t often treated as a preventable condition. In fact, until recently it was believed that myopia was primarily genetic. In the early 21st century, when epidemics of myopia began to be seen in Asian countries like Singapore, researchers reviewed many studies and began to sugest that nearsightedness was a lifestyle issue rather than a genetic one.
Up to 80% of young people in some countries now show signs of myopia. Researchers in Australia concluded that spending lots of time staring at computers and doing close work or intense reading lead to nearsightedness.
Other scientists countered that the modern diet of refined starches and sugars was at fault. Researchers at St Thomas’ Hospital in London found, through studies of twins, that 87% of the problem did appear to be genetic, but sugested that it might be a predisposition toward myopia that was genetic. That is, some people might, because of their genes, be able to keep perfect vision regardless of their lifestyle, while others might be inclined to develop myopia if they spent much time on computers.
In the midst of all this uncertainty, a new study has come up with a new sugestion. It is, according to a Cambridge study reviewing research on 10,000 children, all about spending time outdoors. Palying outside is correlated with better vision.
Researchers can’t yet say what it is about playing outside that is good for kids’ eyes. They can say that an extra hour a day of playing outdoors reduces the chance of nearsightedness by 13%. Nearsighted children spend about four more hours a week indoors than kids with normal vision.
Is it possible that the correlation is caused by kids spending more time inside with computers? The researchers don’t think so. Rather, the lack of outdoor play found among kids who spend their leisure time on video games may be the culprit. Similar results were found in students in religious schools in Israel that gave large amounts of reading homework. It is probably neither the books nor the computers that are at fault.
Much recent research sugests that physical fitness is beneficial for vision health, but indoor sport isn’t correlated with better eyesight. It may be that games played outdoors are more likely to require long vision, and that they encourage development of better distance vision.
The researchers caution that these findings are preliminary and that more study is needed. In the meantime, use an online eye test regularly to identify changes in vision, visit your optometrist when you need a full exam, and send the children out to play every day.
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