Children who play outside every day are less likely to develop nearsightedness according to a recent study.
Chinese researchers found that spending an extra 40 minutes outside each day could reduce the rate of myopia, or nearsightedness. It's a condition that has reached epidemic levels in young adults in some urban areas of East and Southeast Asia. In these areas, 80 percent to 90 percent of high school graduates now have myopia.
"Myopia has reached epidemic levels in China and many countries in East Asia," Dr. Mingguang He, lead author of the study, told CBS News. "However, there is no effective intervention to prevent the development of myopia in children."
Researchers conducted a study in which first graders from 12 primary schools in Guangzhou, China were assigned to one additional 40-minute class of outdoor activities, added to each school day, and parents were encouraged to engage their children in outdoor activities after school hours, especially during weekends and holidays (intervention schools); or children and parents continued their usual pattern of activity (control schools).
After three years, researchers found that the incidence rate of myopia in children who got extra outdoor activity was 30 percent, while nearly 40 percent in the control group, NBC News reported.
"This is clinically important because small children who develop myopia early are most likely to progress to high myopia, which increases the risk of pathological myopia. Thus a delay in the onset of myopia in young children, who tend to have a higher rate of progression, could provide disproportionate long-term eye health benefits," the authors write.
The findings are detailed in the JAMA.
