Childhood myopia is a pressing concern in Singapore, with 65% of our children being diagnosed with myopia by Primary 6. You may have heard of ways to prevent myopia, including spending more time outdoors and less screen time. However, it’s important for parents to take action to manage their child’s myopia progression. Find out more from our VIP mums who have tried and tested the latest eye health innovations with their children and why they absolutely love it!
What is Childhood Myopia?
Most people think myopia is nearsightedness – a common vision condition whereby your child can see near objects clearly, but things that are further away appear blurry1. This is true, but there is much more to childhood myopia. Myopia is a condition that causes irreversible eye elongation, increasing your child’s risk of developing sight-threatening complications in the future. Unfortunately, you cannot cure childhood myopia, and if you do not take steps to manage it, your child’s myopia may get worse.
If you often notice your child squinting, rubbing their eyes, holding things close to their face, and complaining of headaches2, you might want to get them checked for childhood myopia. Remember, the earlier you intervene, the better you can control the progression of your child’s myopia.
How to Manage Childhood Myopia
To help parents like you in your fight against the progression of childhood myopia, Johnson & Johnson has launched ACUVUE ® AbilitiTM, a holistic suite of myopia management products and solutions that fits seamlessly into your child’s life. Find out more from our VIP mums testimonials:
- Overnight Ortho-K Contact Lens
Our VIP mums have tried Abiliti™ with their kids and are incredibly pleased with the results! Singapore is the first market outside the USA to launch the Abiliti™ Overnight Therapeutic Lenses for Myopia Management. It is an orthokeratology (ortho-K) therapeutic lens with the CE mark and is scientifically proven to reduce the stretching of the eyeball, which causes myopia. As such, the lens helps to manage the progression of a child’s myopia, reducing the risk of the child developing sight-threatening diseases later in life.
When worn overnight, the lens temporarily reshapes the cornea and allows your child to see clearly the next day. Our mums especially love how each lens is specifically designed to fit the unique shape of each user’s corneal shape and prescription!
VIP mum Paw Diaz Sandoval was initially apprehensive about trying Abiliti™. She had many questions and was worried that making her child wear contact lenses overnight would be risky. Her optometrist at @eyesightdotsg explained the science behind the Ortho-K and answered all her queries. She decided to give it a try and hasn’t looked back since.
“I got so emotional and was in disbelief that my son’s eyesight improved by just using the lenses for a day! My fear of him wearing specs with thick lenses and not being able to see anything at all (without his specs) when he reaches his teenage years has been diminished. I can see better days ahead of him, thanks to Abiliti™!”
Paw Diaz’s son, Lucas wearing his Abiliti™ Overnight Therapeutic Lenses; Source: tap.red/q553o
Likewise, Elvinia feels that using Abiliti™ has positively impacted her son’s life.
“D has been wearing AbilitiTM Overnight Therapeutic Lenses for slightly more than a month, and now he does not need his glasses during the day. He is also able to see clearly even at a far distance. I can see that D is a happier boy, as he does not need to wear glasses and can enjoy his favourite sports without any restrictions.”
Elvinia Tay’s son, D who is playing his favorite sports without the restriction of his glasses; Source: tap.red/q553s
VIP Mum Kelly Tan, who is on the myopia correction journey with her child, describes the process of getting Abiliti™ as “fast and easy.”
She explained that her son Kuen’s vision got clearer after the first wear and by the third day, he could see normally without wearing glasses. She thinks it’s great!
“Kuen is happy with his new look (without glasses). He can now 100% enjoy his outdoor activities like hiking and playing sports without worrying about his glasses slipping down due to sweat
Kelly’s son, Kuen enjoying outdoor activities like hiking without worrying that his glasses will slip down due to sweat; Source: tap.red/q553u
- Keep Track with an App!
We live in a digital world with an app for pretty much everything and myopia control is no exception! AbilitiTM’s suite of myopia management solutions include SeeAbilitiTM, a digital companion app. This personalised mobile app provides myopia-related lifestyle guidance such as reminding you to allocate outdoor playtime for your child. It works great for busy parents who may lose track of their child’s screen time or forget about outdoor play. As such, SeeAbilitiTM will help you control your child’s myopia progression for better eye health in the future.
Our VIP Mums love it too! Elvinia likes how the app is personalised and helps her to keep track of her son’s time outdoors.
“SeeAbiliti app is a helpful and easy to navigate app for parents to aid their child in the fight against myopia. It is personalised for each child, from monitoring visits to the optometrist to tracking the child’s treatment progress. The app also helps to track the time a child spends outdoors.”
Kelly loves the convenience of the app.
“I’m using SeeAbiliti to manage my son’s daily activities such as how much time he spends outdoors. It is simple to use. With a few clicks, I can help him to control his myopia condition. I like this app!”
The SeeAbiliti™ App
Childhood Myopia in Singapore
We must not ignore the seriousness of childhood myopia, especially since Singapore has the highest prevalence of myopia in the world. In a recent survey by Johnson & Johnson (the makers of the world’s most trusted contact lens, ACUVUE®), a proportion of Singaporean parents reported that at least 75.9% of them had children diagnosed with childhood myopia before they were nine years old. This is hardly surprising given how Covid-19 and changes in the education landscape have increased the emphasis on blended learning. Consequently, our children spend even more time looking at screens.
VIP Mum Elvinia Tay shared the same concern: “With so much emphasis on online learning these days, prolonged screen time is unavoidable for school-going kids. But the tradeoff is an increasing number of children who have myopia.”
As childhood myopia progresses more quickly in children, it can have far-reaching consequences. Uncorrected myopia can affect a child’s learning and education, and even future job prospects3. It also extends to the quality of life, psychological well-being, and development of a child. Studies have shown how myopia has affected children’s self-esteem and significantly increased anxiety levels among adolescents3.
This was the case with Elvinia’s son.
“Due to Covid-19, the school’s annual health checkup was not carried out. Thus, when we discovered that D suffers from myopia, his eyeglass prescription was already on the higher end. Due to his consciousness of having to wear glasses in the presence of his peers, he tends to refuse to wear his glasses which can in turn cause his myopia to worsen.”
VIP Mum Paw Diaz Sandoval’s experienced a similar situation with her son’s myopia deteriorating.
“Lucas needed to wear glasses from the age of 5 and ever since then, his degree kept on rising every year. His myopia continued to worsen especially during the pandemic when we could not go out for outdoor time.”
Paw Diaz with her Son, Lucas and with Ken Tong, Founder & CEO at eyesight.sg; Source: tap.red/q553o
Furthermore, children who develop myopia before the age of 12 have a higher risk of developing high myopia, which leads to increased risks of sight-threatening diseases such as myopic macular degeneration and retinal detachment.
Mums and Dads, childhood myopia is a cause for concern and something parents should act on. You can keep myopia under control by taking charge of your child’s eye health. Visit the SeeYourAbilitiTM website for a risk assessment and to book an appointment with authorised Abiliti™ eye care practitioners. Remember, while you may not be able to reverse childhood myopia, you can take steps to control its progression. With AbilitiTM, you can give your child clearer vision today for better eye health tomorrow!
References
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nearsightedness/symptoms-causes/syc-20375556#:~:text=Nearsightedness%20(myopia)%20is%20a%20common,instead%20of%20on%20your%20retina.
- https://www.jarvisvision.com/blog/signs-of-myopia-in-children-5-clues-to-catch-nearsightedness/
- Ma X, Zhou Z, Yi H, Pang X, Shi Y, Chen Q, et al. Effect of providing free glasses on children’s educational outcomes in China: cluster randomized controlled trial. BMJ. 2014;349.