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Predicting the child who will become myopic - can we prevent onset?
Bingjie Wang1, Kathleen Watt1, Zhi Chen2
1School of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Insights
Identifying pre-myopic children and implementing preventative strategies can combat the global myopia epidemic. Early detection of ocular characteristics and lifestyle modifications are key to reducing myopia onset and its health consequences.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology and Public Health
Background:
- Myopia is a growing global epidemic with substantial public health implications.
- Early identification of at-risk children (pre-myopic) is crucial for effective intervention.
Conclusions:
- Lifestyle modifications, such as increasing outdoor time and managing educational demands, can be effective preventative measures.
- Targeting pre-myopic children with preventative strategies may significantly reduce the burden of myopia.
Abstract:
Myopia has become a global epidemic with significant public health impacts. Identifying the child at risk of developing myopia, i.e. the pre-myopic child and implementing strategies to prevent the onset of myopia, could significantly reduce the burden of myopia on an individual and society. This paper is a review of publications that have identified ocular characteristics of children at risk of future myopia development including a lower than age normal amount of hyperopia and accelerated axial length elongation. Risk factors associated with increased risk of myopia development such as education exposure and reduced outdoor time, and strategies that could be implemented to prevent myopia onset in children are also explored. The strong causal role of education and outdoor time on myopia development suggests that lifestyle modifications could be implemented as preventative measures to at-risk children and may significantly impact the myopia epidemic by preventing or delaying myopia onset and its associated ocular health consequences.
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