Children spending more time outdoors have better vision

[LahoreEstate]

LAHORE: A report on HealthDay website on Saturday said children who spent more time outside - and away from the television set - were less likely to develop myopia: the inability to see things clearly at a distance.

The new report, from researchers in Boston, did not determine whether too much indoor activity actually caused poor eyesight, the website said.

And even if it did, researchers did not pinpoint what the exact mechanism might be.

Still, “it would seem prudent to encourage outdoor activities — not necessarily sports — for all growing children and young adults in order to reduce the progression of myopia,” Howard C Howland, a professor of neurobiology and behaviour at Cornell University was quoted by HealthDay.y.

About one-third Americans suffered from myopia, said study author Jane Gwiazda, director of research at the New England College of Optometry. The rates were much higher in some parts of Asia.

The condition seemed to be caused by both genetics and the environment, Gwiazda wrote in the report, adding it was more common in people who engaged in a lot of ‘near work’ due to their jobs.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg7_3