Adding to the information provided in a previous posting, Myopia in East Asia, the following story delineates the results of a recent survey in Singapore.
According to Crystal Chan, reporting in The Straits Times:
One in five second year pre-schoolers had poor vision, meaning they can only see clearly at 6m what the rest could make out at 12m.
And of the 5,000 children who turned up at eye clinics for further checks, about half were mildly myopic or shortsighted.
A total of 42,000 children were tested last year and results confirmed the suspicion that myopia affected children even before they started school. Understandably, Singapore has the world's highest rate of myopia.
A 2000 study found 34 per cent of young children in Singapore were short-sighted. Rates in other nations were much lower: 19 per cent in Taiwan and 12 per cent in Hong Kong. In America, the figure was just 7.5 per cent.
The blame for the high myopia rate is eyestrain caused by reading, watching television, and computer work. On average, children start reading and using computers when they are two years old. This seems to be awfully young to be pushing children into reading
Parents, take note. Avoid eyestrain in your children.
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