Time spent outdoors ‘linked with lower risk of myopia in children’

Children who spend more time outdoors could be more likely to avoid myopia, also known as nearsightedness.

This is according to a new study from Guangzhou, China, which showed that the addition of a daily outdoor activity class at school for three years for children resulted in a reduction in the rate of myopia.

The research achieved an absolute difference of 9.1 percent in the incidence rate of myopia, representing a 23 percent relative reduction in incident myopia after three years.

Although this was less than the anticipated reduction, the trend is likely to be clinically important as small children who develop myopia early are most likely to progress to more serious forms of nearsightedness.

As such, delaying the onset of myopia in the youngest children – who tend to have a higher rate of progression – could provide disproportionate long-term eye health benefits.

In an accompanying editorial, Michael Repka of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said: "Establishing the long-term effect of additional outdoor activities on the development and progression of myopia is particularly important, because the intervention is essentially free and may have other health benefits."