China’s bookworm students suffer from myopia epidemic, yet there’s a simple solution staring parents in the face
- Nearly 60 per cent of students aged six to 18 across China are myopic, a much greater proportion than in the West
- Under pressure to perform academically, children are spending most of their time indoors, depriving them of the sunlight that allows their eyes to develop
Despite years of talks about stemming the rising tide of short-sightedness in schoolchildren, China’s myopia epidemic continues.
Nearly 60 per cent of students aged six to 18 across China are myopic – also known as short-sighted or nearsighted – according to a recent study by researchers from Shanghai’s East China Normal University.
The incidence increases as children get older, with about a third of primary school students suffering from myopia, 65 per cent in junior high school, and 80 per cent of those in senior high school, according to the research, published by the China Youth Daily, a newspaper, last week.
Students from smaller cities are much more likely to become myopic than those in municipalities and provincial capitals, as medical resources are better in the latter, said the researchers, who interviewed over 18,000 students across China.
Myopia was found in nearly 70 per cent of school students in smaller cities, compared with 56 per cent of those living in major cities, the research showed.
In the West, the rate of myopia hovers around 10 per cent in similar age groups.
Experts believe the increasing prevalence of myopia in China’s younger population is the result of children spending too much time indoors, depriving them of sunlight that allows their eyes to develop.
Shi Wenbin, a leading expert on myopia and an ophthalmologist at the Anhui Provincial Centre of Myopia Prevention for Children in central China, said multiple studies globally had shown that if children were not given more opportunity to play in natural light, their chances of suffering early onset myopia would increase.
“Sadly, as their academic pressure increases, many Chinese children, especially in their senior years, can’t have an hour’s outdoor activity every day,” he said.
Myopia occurs when the eyeball is longer than normal or the cornea is curved too steeply. As a result, light does not focus on the retina as it should, making distant objects appear blurry.
Shi said parents’ ignorance about the condition could lead to their children being at risk of diseases that could threaten their ability to see properly.
