Childhood myopia is a form of short-sightedness that affects young children and it is extremely common in Singapore. In fact, Singapore is often labelled as the “Myopia Capital of the World” – 65 percent of children are myopic¹ by Primary 6, and 83 percent of young adults are myopic. It is projected that 80 to 90 percent of Singaporean adults will become myopic. Of which, 15 to 25 percent of them will have high myopia by 2050².
Myopia is a condition where the eyeball is longer than usual. With a longer eyeball, light rays from distant objects are out of focus in front of the retina, resulting in a blurry image.
Children with myopia have difficulties focusing on distant objects such as the number of an approaching bus or the whiteboard in the classroom. They may tilt their head or squint their eyes to help them see clearer. To find out for sure, an eye check from your eye care professional is important.
What causes myopia in children?
Myopia in children is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Studies³ have shown that childhood myopia is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Children are more likely to have myopia if their parents are myopic.
The prevalence of myopia in young children appears to be on the rise in Asia. This could be due to the amount of nearwork activity⁴ like reading, use of digital devices and the lack of outdoor time.
Studies⁵ show that the earlier a child gets myopia, the faster it will progress, and continue to worsen till adulthood.
Research⁶ also shows that young children who develop myopia before the age of 12 are more at risk of developing high myopia, leading to increased risks of sight-threatening diseases such as myopic macular degeneration and retinal detachment.
Symptoms of myopia
Some symptoms of myopia to watch for in your children include:
- Trouble seeing the whiteboard at school or the bus number of the oncoming bus at the bus stop.
- Squinting while doing homework, reading, or watching TV
- Rubbing of eyes
- Blinking
- Fatigue
How to prevent myopia?
Image source: iStock
To date, the only way to delay myopia onset is to increase the amount of outdoor time. Outdoor lighting is exponentially brighter than any indoor lighting, so spending more time outdoors as opposed to installing bright lights at home helps to delay the onset of myopia. A study found that spending more than 200 minutes every day outdoors delays the development of myopia⁸.
Even with sunglasses, hats, or under the shelter outdoor, the amount of light outdoor is still much higher and cannot be replicated indoors. This bright light provides a protective effect to prevent myopia onset and progression.9
Moreover, spending more time outdoor also means that the child spends less time indoors doing near work or using digital devices which may affect myopia progression.10-11
To ensure that your child continues to have perfect vision to play and learn, an annual eye examination is important to detect any changes in vision and intervene as soon as possible.
What happens if your child has myopia?
While myopia cannot be reversed, here are some ways you can slow the progression of myopia and protect your kids’ eye health. When a child is ill, parents will not stop to wonder if they need treatment. Similarly to myopia, parents should not stop to think about when to start treatment.
Mums and dads, it is best to start using myopia control from a young age as the earlier a child gets myopia, the faster it will progress, and continue to worsen. It is also advisable to use myopia control full-time until your child becomes an adult. Full time wear is important as learning is visual – giving your child clear vision all the time will help them to have the best learning outcomes.
Importantly, do schedule 6-monthly eye exams with your eye care practitioner to monitor the progression of myopia.
Currently, there are three types of treatment for controlling myopia:
- Orthokeratology (“Ortho-K”) lenses
Children can wear these lenses while they sleep and won’t need to wear glasses or contact lenses during the day. This is because, when worn overnight, Ortho-K lenses temporarily reshape the cornea, allowing kids to see clearly the next day. This is a great option for school children as they can see clearly for school, sports, swimming, and other activities without the inconvenience of glasses.
- Myopia control contact lenses
Children also have another option to wear myopia control contact lenses to correct their vision and control myopia progression at the same time. These lenses are designed specifically to fit the children’s eyes to provide comfort and efficacy so that they may continue to have an active lifestyle.
- Myopia control glasses
These spectacles look like normal glasses but work to control myopia progression.
This article is presented by ACUVUE® Abiliti™ Overnight Therapeutic Lenses. If you are concerned about your child’s vision, head over to https://www.seeyourabiliti.com/sg/ to do a risk assessment now. You can also book an eye health check-up with an ACUVUE Abiliti™authorised eye care practitioner, and find out more about how ACUVUE® Abiliti™ Overnight Therapeutic Lenses control the progression of myopia in children.
References:
¹ Karuppiah, V., Wong, L., Tay, V., Ge, X., & Kang, L. L. (2021). School-based programme to address childhood myopia in Singapore. Singapore Medical Journal, 62(2), 63–68. https://doi.org/10.11622/SMEDJ.2019144
² Holden, B. A., Fricke, T. R., Wilson, D. A., Jong, M., Naidoo, K. S., Sankaridurg, P., Wong, T. Y., Naduvilath, T. J., & Resnikoff, S. (2016). Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology, 123(5), 1036–1042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.01.006
³ Morgan, I. G., Wu, P., Ostrin, L. A., Tideman, J. W. L., & Yam, J. C. (2021). IMI Risk Factors for Myopia. Imi, 12–15.
⁴ Wang, J., Li, Y., Musch, D. C., Wei, N., Qi, X., Ding, G., Li, X., Li, J., Song, L., Zhang, Y., Ning, Y., Zeng, X., Hua, N., Li, S., & Qian, X. (2021). Progression of Myopia in School-Aged Children after COVID-19 Home Confinement. JAMA Ophthalmology, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2020.6239
⁵ Chua, S. Y. L., Sabanayagam, C., Cheung, Y.-B., Chia, A., Valenzuela, R. K., Tan, D., Wong, T.-Y., Cheng, C.-Y., & Saw, S.-M. (2016). Age of onset of myopia predicts risk of high myopia in later childhood in myopic Singapore children. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 36(4), 388–394. https://doi.org/10.1111/opo.12305
⁶ Haarman, A. E. G., Enthoven, C. A., Willem Tideman, J. L., Tedja, M. S., Verhoeven, V. J. M., & Klaver, C. C. W. (2020). The complications of myopia: A review and meta-analysis. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 61(4), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.61.4.49
⁷ Cao, K., Wan, Y., Yusufu, M., & Wang, N. (2020). Significance of Outdoor Time for Myopia Prevention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Based on Randomized Controlled Trials. Ophthalmic Research, 63(2), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1159/000501937
⁸Wu, P.-C., Chen, C.-T., Lin, K.-K., Sun, C.-C., Kuo, C.-N., Huang, H.-M., Poon, Y.-C., Yang, M.-L., Chen, C.-Y., Huang, J.-C., Wu, P.-C., Yang, I.-H., Yu, H.-J., Fang, P.-C., Tsai, C.-L., Chiou, S.-T., & Yang, Y.-H. (2018). Myopia Prevention and Outdoor Light Intensity in a School-Based Cluster Randomized Trial. Ophthalmology, 125(8), 1239–1250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2017.12.011
9Carla Lanca, Aaron Teo, Ananthan Vivagandan, Hla M. Htoon, Raymond P. Najjar, Daniel P. Spiegel, Suan-Hui Pu, Seang-Mei Saw; The Effects of Different Outdoor Environments, Sunglasses and Hats on Light Levels: Implications for Myopia Prevention. Trans. Vis. Sci. Tech. 2019;8(4):7. doi: https://doi.org/10.1167/tvst.8.4.7.
10 Gajjar, S. and Ostrin, L.A. (2022), A systematic review of near work and myopia: measurement, relationships, mechanisms and clinical corollaries. Acta Ophthalmol. https://doi.org/10.1111/aos.15043
11 McCrann, S., Loughman, J., Butler, J.S., Paudel, N. and Flitcroft, D.I. (2022), Smartphone use as a possible risk factor for myopia. Clin Exp Optom. https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.13092