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Topic Introduction

As if there aren’t enough reasons to turn off the screens and get your kids outside, here is another big one. We now have proof, from a big study done in China, a study that spanned over a few years, that being outside and being away from close-up work like reading and looking at screens significantly reduces a child’s chances of developing nearsightedness, a condition also called myopia.I guess the Chinese are particularly interested in myopia since they have such high incidence of myopia. Among urban older Chinese, the rate of nearsightedness is currently 90%.  I guess that is why they invented glasses– a very strong need. So it is fitting that the Chinese were the ones who proved that spending at least 40 minutes outside on a daily basis, greatly reduces a child’s chance of becoming myopic.