Myopia is the medical term for nearsightedness. The symptoms of myopia are the ability to see close objects with clarity, while distant objects appear blurry or indistinct. Suffering from myopia is frustrating because it can make watching television, driving, or certain aspects of performing your work duties more difficult. Nearsightedness is common and affects people at almost any age. It is believed nearsightedness, or a propensity for developing the condition is passed down through genetics.
In the US, diagnoses of myopia in children has doubled over the course of just a single generation. What’s worse, researchers now predict that by 2050 the incidence of myopia will increase by a further 40% over today’s epidemic-levels of occurrence. This would translate into almost 60 million kids in the U.S. under the age of 17 suffering from myopia.
As a parent, it can be alarming to see your child’s vision deteriorate every year. Parents who remember getting glasses themselves feared it was just a matter of time before their children needed them too. But the rate and severity of myopia is growing so significantly that researchers believe there are other contributing factors beyond genetics. Many studies now point to environmental and behavioral factors such as reading at very close distances (<8 inches) and for continuous periods of time (> 45 minutes) and reduced outdoor time (<8-15 hours/week) during a child’s formative years of development having a role in driving the significant increase in myopia.