According to statistics, there are currently 600 million myopia patients in China, with the rate of myopia among teenagers ranking first in the world. The myopia rates among high school students and college students have both exceeded 70% and are increasing year by year, while the rate among primary school students is approaching 40%. Experts emphasize that myopia control is a national strategy that requires collective action.
Children and adolescents have myopia, so why do we need to do myopia control and why do we need to control the progression of their myopia? What is the significance of this? Let's look at the following data.
The significance of control and prevention
If myopia is controlled at 18 years old or below at 600 degrees or less, it can reduce:
67% of the risk of glaucoma;
74% of the risk of cataract;
99% of the risk of macular degeneration;
98% of the risk of retinal detachment.
Severe myopia can lead to many retinal complications, which can be corrected by wearing glasses or undergoing surgery, but there may still be other eye damage issues, such as retinal detachment and macular degeneration, which can cause serious vision impairment and even blindness. Therefore, we must pay close attention to severe myopia and the prevention of childhood and adolescent myopia.
How can children and adolescents do good eye protection? We just need to pay attention to the following points.
1. Encourage more outdoor activities
Encourage children to engage in outdoor activities and exercise, so that they have at least 60 minutes of outdoor natural light exposure per day at home. Studies have shown that at least 2 hours of outdoor activity in sunlight per day has a clear preventive effect on myopia. Therefore, parents should take their children outdoors more during the day. Even if they don't exercise, just being outdoors is beneficial.
2. Limit the use of electronic devices
Parents should limit the use of electronic devices when accompanying their children and children should not use electronic devices for non-learning purposes for more than 15 minutes at a time. After using electronic devices for 30-40 minutes for learning, they should take a 10-15 minute break to rest and relax by looking far away.
3、 Eat less sweet food and sit straight while doing homework.
Because too much sweet food can cause calcium loss, which is an essential vitamin for the eye and a protector of eye tissue. Loss of calcium in the eye will cause the elasticity of the sclera to decline, the elasticity of the retina to weaken, the anterior-posterior diameter of the eyeball to lengthen, and thus contribute to myopia. Therefore, eating less sweet food and more carrots, vegetables, etc. can prevent myopia.
Children and adolescents should maintain the correct posture while doing homework and reading: sit straight, keep the distance between the eyes and the book at 33 cm, and keep the distance between the chest and the desk at 10 cm. The finger holding the pen should be 3.3 cm away from the tip of the finger.
4、 Parents have high myopia
Check their child's vision regularly
If parents have high myopia, the probability of their child inheriting it will be higher. In this case, parents should pay attention to their child's development of vision and check their child's vision regularly. If their child is found to have myopia, an appropriate scientific and professional myopia control plan should be adopted.
5 、Reduce your child's extracurricular learning burden
Give your child more rest time, avoid school overload and homework overload. Ensure your child's sleep and nutrition, keep track of your child's eye health, and have your child checked by an eye care institution or a professional eyewear store if you notice any abnormalities in their vision.
6 、Parents should not blindly choose myopia treatment institutions
Don't believe in so-called high-tech products that can help myopic children regain their vision. They are basically a scam. There is no way to cure juvenile myopia so far, and myopia is irreversible. All the methods currently available on the market for myopia recovery can only relieve eye fatigue and do not reduce the degree of myopia, let alone cure it. If you notice any abnormalities in your child's vision, go to an ophthalmology clinic or a professional eyewear store for a checkup and choose a scientific myopia control plan.
