Number of children with near-sightedness continues to rise worldwide. Here's why

BOSTON - A new study finds a startling number of children worldwide are developing near-sightedness.

About 36% of children and teens globally have myopia or near-sightedness, meaning they have trouble with distance vision. And according to a new study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, that number will rise to 40% by the year 2050 with more than 740 million cases around the world.

The condition disproportionately affects girls, people living in East Asia, and people living in urban settings. Myopia tends to run in families, but why the sharp rise in recent years? One likely cause is that kids tend to spend less time outdoors where they have to see things at a distance and more time indoors doing activities that require focus on objects nearby such as reading, writing, and using electronic devices. The COVID-19 pandemic likely made matters worse.  

In:
• Health
• Children

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

Twitter Facebook