During the past couple of weeks I have seen tons on blogs about how TV can hurt peoples eyes. Or how staring at the computer screen can hurt peoples eyes. But what could benefit children’s eyesight? In today’s society everything has become technology driven. A kid as young as 4 years old can operate a smart phone like they had it in their possession in the womb. Now a days it seems like kids would rather play video games inside instead of go outside. But what if I told you going outside and playing could benefit kids in ways other than a healthier lifestyle? What if I told you it could benefit their eyesight?

“The addition of a daily outdoor activity class at school for three years for children in Guangzhou, China, resulted in a reduction in the rate of myopia (nearsightedness, the ability to see close objects more clearly than distant objects), according to a study in the September 15 issue of JAMA.”

Mingguang He, M.D., Ph.D., of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, and colleagues conducted a study which included children in grades 1 from 12 from primary schools in Guangzhou, China. These children were assigned to 1 additional 40-minute class of outdoor activities. The class was added to each school day, and parents were encouraged to engage their children in outdoor activities after school hours. They also were encouraged to engage their children in activities during weekends and holidays. The average age of the children was 6.6 years. The children were separated into two groups, an intervention group and a control group. “The 3-year cumulative incidence rate of myopia was 30.4 percent (259 cases among 853 eligible participants) in the intervention group and 39.5 percent (287 cases among 726 eligible participants) in the control group.” The cumulative change in the myopic shift after 3 years was significantly less in the intervention group than in the control group.

Although this is an interesting experiment I still have my doubts. First of all, in future studies, I believe they should include more information on the content of the activity being performed outdoors. I also would like to know if the activity could be standardized and how it differs from other studies that have been conducted. Even though the findings were small it is still astounding that there were findings at all. Not only can outdoor activities improve the health of school-aged children, but it’s been discovered that it can also help prevent myopia.

SITES:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150915135414.htm