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Breastfed children may have lower rate of myopia
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Infants who are breastfed are up to 50% less likely than their non-breastfed counterparts to be myopic, according to a Singapore study reported on by Reuters.
Docosahexaenoic acid — or DHA — is found in breast milk and may be the “main element” that improves early visual development in infants, which may lead to a more controlled growth of the eye and held reduce the development or severity of myopia, according to Dr. Saw Seang Mei of the National University of Singapore.
Dr. Saw told Reuters that DHA also plays a role in the development of photoreceptor cells in the retina, another cause of myopia. Dr. Saw and colleagues surveyed 797 children between 10 and 12 years old in Singapore; questions included the number of books they read per week. The children were also given complete medical exams, Reuters said.
The risk of myopia in a child who was breastfed was 0.6 times that of a child who was not breastfed, the researchers found.