Why nearsightedness in children is rising?

Look and shall you see : A generation of the real-life nearsighted Mr.Magoos is growing up before your eyes. Largely unrecognised epidemic of nearsightedness ,or myopia,is affecting the eyes of the children.

People with myopia can see words close-up objects clearly,like the words on the page.But their distance vision is blurry, and correction glasses or contact lenses is likely to be needed for the activities like, seeing the black board clearly, cycling, recognising faces down block.

The growing incidence of mypia is related to changes in children’s behaviour, especially how little time spend out doors,often staring at screens indoors instead of enjoying activities illuminated by day light. And the devastating pandemic of the past year may be making matters worse.

Children with one or both nearsighted parents are more likely to become myopic.The prevalence of myopic in the United States increased from 25 per cent in the early 1970s to nearly 42 per cent just three decades later. Given that genes don’t change that quickly, environmental factors, especially children’s decreased exposure to out light, are the likely cause of this rise in myopia, expert’s believe.

Did you know:kids spending five hours a day on screens other than school work during 2020 ,A Canadian study has found.

Recent research suggests that months of Covid- induced confinement may be hastening myopia’s silent progression among young children . A Canadian study found that 8- year-old spent an average of more than five ours an day on screens for leisure, in addition to screen time needed for school work .

Tis report and a new study of school -aged children in China after covid five months of covid-19 home confinement informed the title of of an editorial , ‘2020 as the year of quarantine myopia,’ in JAMA Ophthalmology. Researchers described a substantial decline in the visual acuity among 123,535 elementary school children following school ensures last year from January until June. This was markedly worse than previous annual screening.

-New York Times