Li Xiao-di (李小弟), 14 years old who wears glasses since grade 2 of elementary school and his short-sightedness has increased by more than 100 degrees in just a few years. This year, he even has blurred vision and retinal detachment. His father was shocked that the misconceptions of the past almost harmed the children.
Taiwan’s first-grade elementary school students have 2 myopias (short-sightedness) for every 10 students, and high school students have nearly 9 myopias for every 10 students. According to the results of the “2017 Children and Adolescent Eyesight Surveillance Survey” of the Health Promotion Administration, the Ministry of Health and Welfare show that the prevalence rate of myopia in Kindergarten is 9%, elementary school climbed up to 19.8% and secondary school grew up to 38.7%.
The Health Promotion Administration reminds that the younger the myopia, the faster the degree increases, and the average annual increase will be 75-100 degrees. If it is not controlled, it is easy to have high myopia (degrees >500 degrees), while high myopia is prone to early cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment and macular degeneration, even 10% can lead to blindness.
Many parents believe that watching TV is the main cause of myopia. Why has it restricted myopia to watching TV? In fact, close-up and long-term use of eyesight is the biggest accomplice of myopia and increasing the degree. Outdoor activities are an effective way to prevent myopia.
In view of this, avoid arranging children to take long-term eye-based learning courses or watching mobile phones at home, playing computer games (including tablets), and implementing a 30 minutes eyes using with 10 minutes break.
Zhang Yu-ying (長王英), the Director of the Health Promotion Administration added that many parents have misunderstood about the close-up use of eyesight and think that only reading and writing homework can be counted. As a result, children are encouraged to paint, play toys and pile wood, but these are the categories of close-up use of eyesight. Close-up eye activity should be replaced by outdoor activities.
