The Rise of Myopia

By: Cayden Harris, Class IV

Photo Credit: Pixabay

New studies have indicated a rise in Myopia, a vision impairment.

 What causes this, and What can be done to solve it?

Imagine walking to your next class, sitting down, and looking at the board. You can just barely make out what it says, even though your vision used to be much better. Recently, I’ve constantly found myself having to squint my eyes at the board. I never used glasses before, but with how bad my eyesight had gotten, it seemed necessary. This is an experience increasing in commonality. The rates of childhood myopia have risen dramatically, with a reported 33.9% of children being affected by myopia in 2020, a number that is expected to rise to about 50 percent in 2050. According to an interview with Dr. Seang Mi-Saw, held by the National Eye Institute, “this increase is largely due to kids’ spending more time in front of screens and less time outdoors.” 

Another article from Cleveland clinic corroborates this, saying, “You can experience visual stress by spending too much time doing up-close activities, such as reading or doing computer work.” Though “close-up” activities could include a variety of things, screen time seems to be a large issue for teens, with 44% of teens admitting that they spend too much time in front of screens, as well as 78% of teens checking their phone at least every hour. Ikram from Class IV explained how he frequently has difficulty seeing the board, and stated that his difficulties could be linked to his phone usage. Another cause of Myopia is familial genetics. According to the Mayo Clinic, “The risk is higher if both parents are nearsighted.” 

Luckily, there are many ways to slow the progression of childhood myopia. We can encourage children to spend more time outdoors away from screens or implement the use of Atropine drops. These methods can help protect children against the fast progression of Myopia.