Myopia

December 14, 2008

Myopia is commonly known as “short-sightedness”. In Singapore, many of the children developed myopia by the age of 12 years old and we have been seeing more and more children wearing spectacles at a young age of probably 6-7 years old.

What are the factors causing myopia and how can we protect our child against it though it cannot be totally prevented?

The exact factors that cause myopia is not known but a child is more likely to develop myopia if one or both parents suffer from myopia or the child is constantly involved in reading, writing, using computer, drawing, painting, playing hand-held or handphone games or doing craft work with small objects. These happen to be activities that all our children are so involved in.

These are some ways to reduce the chance of our children developed myopia.

Encourage your child to take a break from reading, writing or staring into the computer
It is not known why but increase their outdoor activities everyday. This will help your child have a healthier body, improve motor skills and interpersonal skills at the same time.
Hold their books at approximately 30cm away from their eyes and ensure adequate lights when reading
Choose books with bigger prints rather than fine prints
Make sure your child sit a distance away from the television. The bigger the television, the further away they should sit.
Do not let them watch the television while lying down.
Limit the time spend on playing video games
Eat a balanced diet. Eat 2 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday.

Ashlyn has this bad habit of lying down on the floor to watch television and I am really concern about it. Do not want my princess to be wearing spectacles when she grows up.