Giving your child a healthy visual diet

Myopia is a global concern

The incidence of myopia is expected to increase significantly as lifestyle changes, with children taking part in more near-work activities like using digital devices, studying, reading and spending less time outdoors. Hereditary, behavioural and environmental factors also play a part.

Being able to have your child’s myopia diagnosed early not only corrects their vision now, but can help slow the progression of myopia and preserve their vision and eye health for the future.

Image of children wearing classes within a classroom

What is myopia?

Nothing is more important than the health and wellbeing of your child, now and in the future, you want to see your child thrive and that’s the key: seeing. You may have noticed your child struggling to see clearly at a distance, making it harder to concentrate at school and have a fulfilling experience at play. Your child may have myopia.

Image of children wearing classes within a classroom

Our research has found:

  • The average child spends more than four and a
    half hours per day on electrical devices, and just
    40 minutes outside
  • Six in 10 parents aren’t aware that time
    spent outdoors can delay the onset of myopia
    (short-sightedness) in children
  • More than six in 10 struggle to get their children
    to leave the house, resulting in a third of
    parents feeling worried
  • Seven in 10 are eager to get their child outside
    more, yet over two thirds believe their kids are
    ‘addicted to screens’
  • 93 per cent agree screen time has increased
    significantly during the pandemic
  • The average six to 16-year-old spends two plus
    more hours a day inside, than they did before
    the pandemic.

 

What makes a healthy visual diet?

Spend time outdoors.

Research showed that spending time outdoors may reduce risk of myopia and its progression.

 

Seek regular eye care.

Make sure that your child has regular eye examinations to ensure that myopia or other vision problems are detected and treated early, reducing the worsening of vision, myopia progression and potential complications of high myopia.

 

Take regular breaks.

Reduce your child’s eye strain by reminding him or her to take breaks from intensive screen time or near-work.

What experts say...

"Researchers have proven a clear relationship between
being short-sighted and spending less time outdoors in
childhood."
"Getting children outside more regularly or for longer
periods during daylight hours is an excellent way for
parents to promote a ‘healthy visual diet."
"The outdoors is an environment which has been
shown to delay the onset of short-sightedness, and by
getting children outside, it will remove them from being
in front of the addictive screens that parents are so concerned
about."

Professor Kathryn Saunders

Myopia can be managed not only corrected

Myopia is best managed early on to avoid long term issues.

Today, in most cases, myopia is corrected with standard single vision spectacle lenses providing clear and sharp vision. However, they do not help with slowing down the progression of myopia.

 

That's why MiYOSMART spectacle lenses were developed...

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Make an appointment with your local Eye Care Professional and ask about MiYOSMART spectacle lenses

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1 Brien Holden Vision Institute; 2 Shanghai Eye Disease Prevention and Treatment Center https://guidelines.brienholdenvision.org, accessed 16.08.1018.

2 Lam CSY, Tang WC, Lee RPK, Chun RKM, To CH. A randomized clinical trial for myopia control – use of myopic defocus spectacle lens. 8th International Congress of Behavioral Optometry (ICBO), 26- 29 of April 2018. Sydney, Australia. 8Sankaridurg P1, Tilia D1, Morton M1, Weng R1, Jong M1, Zhu F2. Guidelines for Myopia Management.