Does Playing Outdoors Benefit Kids' Vision?
October 28, 2011
Children who spend more time outdoors may be less likely to suffer from nearsightedness, a study shows.
In nearsightedness, objects in the distance appear blurry and out of focus.
Researchers who pooled the results of eight previously published studies involving more than 10,000 youngsters found that each additional hour spent outdoors during the week decreased the risk of developing nearsightedness (myopia) by 2%.
"This translates to about a 13% reduced chance of developing nearsightedness per extra hour per day of physical activity outdoors," says researcher Anthony Khawaja, MBBS, an ophthalmologist at the University of Cambridge, U.K.
The study also showed that children who were nearsighted stayed indoors about four hours more per week than children who had normal vision or were farsighted, in which nearby objects appear blurry.
"Increasing children's outdoor time could be a simple and cost-effective measure with important benefits for their vision and general health," Khawaja says. "If we want to make clear recommendations, however, we'll need more precise data."
He presented the findings here at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

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Posted by Ken at 12:00 AM