Link discovered between children being nearsighted & not getting enough sunshine

[astro]

Interesting new relationship.

Eyes on the sun: Child sunshine exposure and eye development

Exposure to sunshine as a small child is crucial to the development of a healthy eye according to results of long-term myopia study conducted by University of Sydney researchers.

Their findings published this week in the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s professional journal tables data showing children who spend more time outdoors were less likely to become short-sighted or myopic.
The researchers say that evidence suggests that small children under six years of age should spend at least 10 hours a week outdoors in the sunshine.

Orthoptist Associate Professor Kathryn Rose, from the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences says exposure to sunlight at a young age assists in the growth of a normal healthy eyeball preventing it from growing too fast or over - expanding and becoming oval or egg-shaped instead of round.

[Pleonast]

Not entirely new, but it needs a lot more publicity.

My spouse and I did a literature search for the potential causes of myopia when we had kids, since we both are severely near-sighted. Things that had no to low correlation: reading, watching TV, genetics. The only thing with high correlation: time spent indoors. And time spent outdoors reduces the odds of myopia.

I’m glad to see they’ve isolated it further to sunlight itself. I wonder if it’s the light intensity or the UV component. In any case, more people need to keep their kids outdoors more.

[No_umlaut_for_U]

Nearsightedness or melanoma…Hmm.

[Motorgirl]

Is it sunshine or the opportunity to frequently look at and focus on things more than 10 feet away?

[thelurkinghorror]

@Motorgirl

Is it sunshine or the opportunity to frequently look at and focus on things more than 10 feet away?

My thoughts exactly. Correlation/causation and such, but I’d like to see the original paper rather than a report. Maybe using your eyes at distance helps, maybe pre-myopic children avoid the outdoors because they feel at a disadvantage, etc.

Reminds me of the Bates method, which has very little evidence. Bates talked about sunlight.

[saje]

Well, something went wrong with me then.

I was born in '61, and not a child to be dumped in front of the TV. We lived in a coastal town and we spent a good part of the year at the beach. When not at the beach we were at a lake in the NY mountains swimming, hiking, fishing. My parents loved to garden, we skied and sledded in the winter, my sister had a horse… in short, we were outside a LOT.

And I wear coke bottle bottom glasses and have to have special order contacts from one of two companies that will do such a strong prescription.

[aruvqan]

@saje

Well, something went wrong with me then.

I was born in '61, and not a child to be dumped in front of the TV. We lived in a coastal town and we spent a good part of the year at the beach. When not at the beach we were at a lake in the NY mountains swimming, hiking, fishing. My parents loved to garden, we skied and sledded in the winter, my sister had a horse… in short, we were outside a LOT.

And I wear coke bottle bottom glasses and have to have special order contacts from one of two companies that will do such a strong prescription.

Except I have a brother and not a sister, are you me? Born in 1961, all of 1 black and white TV in the house, restricted to watching the 6 pm news and whatever else between 7 pm and 8 pm through most of the 1960s … summer cottage on a small lake just west of the Finger Lakes, lots of stuff like hiking, cross country skiing, horses, running amok with my assorted cousins.