# Link discovered between children being nearsighted & not getting enough sunshine **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-discovered-between-children-being-nearsighted-not-getting-enough-sunshine/706052 "2014-12-01T18:43:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-discovered-between-children-being-nearsighted-not-getting-enough-sunshine/706052/1 "2014-12-01T18:43:11Z")
Interesting new relationship. [Eyes on the sun: Child sunshine exposure and eye development](http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-eyes-sun-child-sunshine-exposure.html) > [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-discovered-between-children-being-nearsighted-not-getting-enough-sunshine/706052/2 "2014-12-01T20:52:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-discovered-between-children-being-nearsighted-not-getting-enough-sunshine/706052/3 "2014-12-02T01:16:29Z")
Nearsightedness or melanoma…Hmm. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-discovered-between-children-being-nearsighted-not-getting-enough-sunshine/706052/4 "2014-12-02T02:36:44Z")
Is it sunshine or the opportunity to frequently look at and focus on things more than 10 feet away? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-discovered-between-children-being-nearsighted-not-getting-enough-sunshine/706052/5 "2014-12-02T03:50:44Z")
> [@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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method), which has very little evidence. Bates talked about sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-discovered-between-children-being-nearsighted-not-getting-enough-sunshine/706052/6 "2014-12-02T12:32:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-discovered-between-children-being-nearsighted-not-getting-enough-sunshine/706052/7 "2014-12-02T13:43:23Z")
> [@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.