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Time outdoors, less homework protect against childhood myopia
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Schoolchildren in Taipei City, Taiwan, who had emmetropia at baseline, had two myopic parents and spent at least 5 hours a week on homework had the greatest risk of developing myopia during the subsequent year, according to a study in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.
As part of the Myopia Investigation Study in Taipei, 11,590 grade 2 schoolchildren completed an ocular examination.
Among 7,376 baseline nonmyopic participants, 6,794 were examined during the first-year follow-up, and 1,856 with incident myopia were identified, according to researchers.
The annual incidence rate of myopia was 31.7% among schoolchildren 7 to 8 years old.
The risk was associated with area of residence, parental myopia, baseline refractive status, time outdoors after school on weekdays and time spent on after-school tutoring programs.
Researchers found that spending more time outdoors after school and less time on after-school tutoring programs were protective factors against new-onset myopia. —by Abigail Sutton
Disclosure: Tsai reported no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for all remaining authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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