Aug 05, 2021 12:30:00

The number of children with myopia is rapidly increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed people's lifestyles around the world, resulting

in a variety of reported effects , such as reduced physical activity and increased alcohol consumption. While some reports suggest the pandemic has improved the mental health of young people , new research suggests that it has also led to a decline in children's eyesight.

Myopia incidence and lifestyle changes among school children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based prospective study | British Journal of Ophthalmology
https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2021/07/15/bjophthalmol-2021-319307

The Global Pandemic Could Be Causing More Shortsightedness in Kids Than Ever Before
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-global-pandemic-might-be-weakening-the-eyes-of-children

A group of Hong Kong researchers conducted visual acuity tests on 709 children aged 6 to 8 in 2020 and again the following year, and found that the incidence of myopia had increased significantly compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it's impossible to determine from the data whether the decline in vision is directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it's known that spending time outdoors reduces a child's risk of developing myopia, while screen time, such as using a smartphone or playing video games, tends to worsen vision.

A 2018 study found that playing outdoors reduces the risk of children developing myopia. Therefore, it is entirely possible that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to school closures and reduced opportunities for children to play outdoors, is causing a decline in children's eyesight.

The Hong Kong researchers who published the study wrote, 'The home isolation and school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will not last forever. However, increased use and dependence on digital devices, as well as behavioral changes resulting from prolonged house arrest, may have long-term effects, particularly in children, that accelerate the progression of myopia.'

Hundreds of thousands of students undergo eye exams every year in China, and analysis of the data reveals that

more than 90% of young people are myopic . Similarly, large-scale eye exams in Hong Kong also reveal a rise in the incidence of myopia among children, consistent with survey data collected in mainland China.

Data released in January 2021 also revealed that the incidence of myopia among children under the age of six in China is three times higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Therefore, the researchers who published the data wrote, 'This abnormally high incidence of myopia has not been seen in other years and is likely due to the abnormal circumstances caused by the stay-at-home order in 2020.'

The researchers also noted that, 'In a survey conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of myopia was 13.15% over one year, whereas after the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence rate rose to 19.44% in just eight months. This indicates that the incidence of myopia has clearly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic,' suggesting that the pandemic has likely affected children's eyesight.

While it's unclear what lifestyle habits affected the incidence of myopia, the survey also revealed that the children in the study reported a 68% decrease in the amount of time they spent outdoors during the pandemic, with the average time they spent playing outdoors now just 24 minutes a day. Meanwhile, the amount of time they spent looking at screens, such as televisions and smartphones, has nearly tripled since before the pandemic, from an average of two and a half hours to seven hours a day.

The researchers also explained that 'there was no clear correlation between screen time and the progression of myopia,' so it is unclear whether the increased time spent looking at displays directly contributed to the decline in vision.