Short-sightedness in children on the rise worldwide

When my daughter recently attended school in Year 3, it was obvious - literally: many of her classmates already wear glasses. I haven't counted those affected. But according to a recent research study, around one in three children around the world wear glasses. And there will probably be many more in the future: by 2050, 40 per cent of all children and young people are likely to be short-sighted. That's around 740 million young people worldwide.

This is the assumption of a Chinese research team that published its forecast in the "British Journal of Ophthamology" this week. It analysed 270 studies and government reports from 50 countries. Data from more than 5.4 million children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 19 were included. The researchers concluded that myopia - the medical term for short-sightedness - could become a "global health burden".

Less daylight, more screen time

According to the data, myopia in children has already increased significantly between 1990 and 2023. While the figure stagnated at 24 to 25 per cent between 1990 and 2010, the increase accelerated in the following years. According to the report, 36 per cent of children were short-sighted in 2023.

Genetics play a role in myopia. However, the researchers blame two things in particular for the increase: increasing screen time and spending more and more time indoors. Frequent staring at screens at a young age, combined with a lack of daylight, can elongate the eyeball - and thus promote short-sightedness. A recently published study showed that just a quarter of an hour a day outdoors significantly reduces the risk of short-sightedness in children.

According to the latest results from China, there were also differences between the sexes: girls are more affected than boys. The research group attributes this to the fact that girls engage in more indoor activities in their free time and like to focus on close objects.

Great regional differences

A longer and earlier schooling also increases the likelihood of myopia, according to the study. This is probably also why there are significant regional differences: While in Japan and South Korea, where children attend school at an earlier age, more than 80 per cent of children are short-sighted, the figure in various African countries such as Uganda and Burkina Faso is only just over one per cent.

In Asian countries in particular, people are now responding to the problem and are increasingly building glass school buildings to bring more daylight into the rooms. Optician Thomas Frei said this a year ago in an interview with Galaxus. "In Taiwan, for example, schools have introduced much longer breaks between lessons so that children can spend more time outside in the daylight."

Get out into the fresh air

In the interview, the expert also explained why eye health is so essential at a young age: people with a strength of minus five dioptres or more are at greater risk of developing eye diseases or even going blind in old age. We can therefore already assume "that helping these people will be one of the greatest medical challenges of this century".

A major challenge that needs to be tackled today. At least on a small scale, within our own four walls. Or even outside: Whenever my children want to play on their tablets again, I now have a whole host of new arguments up my sleeve to convince them to do outdoor activities.