In the last decade, cases of many types of serious diseases have been seen increasing all over the world, its effect has been seen on people of all ages. Children are also not untouched by this. In recent years, cases of heart disease, respiratory disease, and type-1 diabetes have been reported in children. At the same time, in a study, health experts have cautioned about the increasing number of eye-related diseases in children.

A study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology shows that the vision of children is gradually weakening all over the world. One in every three children is diagnosed with myopia, in which distant objects are not visible. In this report, health experts have alerted all the people and said that if the rate of increase of this problem continues like this and preventive measures are not taken, then in the next 25 years this problem can affect millions of children around the world. By the year 2050, 40 percent of children may fall victim to this eye problem.

Let us know about the causes and prevention of the increasing myopia problem in children.

Problem of Myopia (nearsightedness)

Myopia is also called nearsightedness in which you can see nearby objects clearly but have difficulty seeing distant objects. According to the study report, there has been a significant increase in cases of myopia among children and adolescents in the last 30 years. Its total cases were 24 percent in the year 1990, which has increased to 36 percent in 2023.

Researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in China have drawn their conclusions by analyzing the results of 276 studies involving more than 5.4 million children and adolescents in 50 countries across all six continents.

Why are myopia cases increasing?

The study found that this problem was being seen in children and adolescents earlier as well, however during the COVID lockdown, children spent more time indoors and spent more time on screens like mobile-laptop, which has had a bad effect on their vision. Myopia can be a serious problem, which if not taken care of or treated on time, can also lead to the risk of losing eyesight.

Eye problems in children can also affect their quality of life, so all parents need to pay serious attention to this problem.

Problems caused by myopiaHealth experts say that childhood myopia is not just a problem of dependence on glasses, but it also increases the risk of other eye diseases like glaucoma and retinal detachment. Some studies estimate that apart from children, about half of the world's population may suffer from myopia by the year 2050. The incidence of myopia in children is also increasing continuously in India.

In most cases, myopia is diagnosed in childhood. This problem is not limited to the eyes only, due to this there is a risk of negative impact on psychological health as well.

Spending too much time on the screen is dangerous.

According to ophthalmologists, screen time has increased the risk of myopia in children and youth much more than before. Spending too much time on the screen of a smart device increases the risk of myopia by 30 percent. Along with this, due to excessive use of computers, this risk has increased to about 80 percent. Reducing screen time is most important.

Apart from this, due to the negative conditions of the coronavirus epidemic such as people spending more and more time at home and, a reduction in sports outside and online classes, the cases of this eye-related disease have increased even more.

(PC: Freepik)