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Study confirms time outdoors may protect against myopia
Time spent outdoors between the ages of 3 and 8.5 years was inversely associated with the risk of developing myopia in later childhood in a large, population-based study.
Participants were recruited from the Avon Longitudinal Study, a database of parents and children in the county of Avon, U.K.
Parents were asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding the time their children spent outdoors, and the same questionnaire was distributed at six age points: when their children were 2, 3, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5 and 8.5 years.
The children’s mean spherical equivalent refraction was measured by noncycloplegic autorefraction at five time points between the age of 7 and 15 years. Other risk factors, such as sex, the myopia status of parents and average time spent reading by the children, were also introduced.
Data were obtained for 2,833 children. A significant inverse correlation was found between the amount of time spent outdoors from the ages of 3 to 8 years and the development of myopia between the ages of 10 and 15 years. Although these findings were independent on other risk factors, the authors noted that girls and children of myopic parents spent on average less time outdoors. A correlation with time spent reading was found at the age of 6.5 years, but not at different time points.
“Our study provides an evidence base for recommending children to spend more time outdoors across the full 3.0- to 8.5-year age range,” the authors stated.
Interventions aiming to reduce the incidence of myopia by providing a specific duration of extra time outdoors per day (e.g., 1 extra hour) may have greater impact when targeting children ages 5.5 to 8.5 years than when targeting younger ages.” – by Michela Cimberle
Disclosure: The authors report no relevant disclosures