'Playing outdoor may help cut kids' risk of nearsightedness

Updated on: Friday, October 28, 2011

Want to pry your kids away from TV and video games? Well, encourage them to spend more time outdoors, as it may reduce their risk of nearsightedness, a new study has suggested.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge, who looked at data from eight studies on outdoor time and nearsightedness in over 10,000 children and adolescents, found that those who spent less than 3.7 hours outdoors per week had the refractive error of the eye.

It was also found that for each extra hour that a child spent outdoors per week, their risk of nearsightedness dropped by about 2 per cent, LiveScience reported.

"Increasing children's outdoor time could be a simple and cost-effective measure with important benefits for their vision and general health," study researcher Anthony Khawaja said in a statement.

Increased exposure to natural light as well as more time spent looking at distant objects which kids are more apt to do outside than indoors may play roles in lowering kids' risk of developing nearsightedness, the researchers speculate.

"If we want to make clear recommendations, however, we'll need more precise data," Khawaja said. "Future, prospective studies will help us understand which factors, such as increased use of distance vision, reduced use of near vision, natural ultraviolet light exposure or physical activity, are most important."

Also known as myopia, nearsightedness is the most common cause of visual impairment worldwide. Its prevalence has been increasing in recent decades, especially in East Asian areas, such as China, Japan and Singapore, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The findings were presented at the 115th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

'Playing outdoor may help cut kids' risk of nearsightedness

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