Playing outdoors may help prevent nearsightedness in children – study

Scientists found that children with myopia spent on average 3.7 fewer hours per week outdoors than those who either had normal vision or were farsighted.

Key factors involved may be exposure to natural light and focusing on distant objects, the experts believe.

The researchers analysed data from eight studies involving 10,400 children and adolescents. All included information on myopia and the amount of time children spent outside home.

For each extra hour spent outdoors per week, the likelihood of being nearsighted fell by around two per cent.

The effect seemed to arise from simply being outdoors rather than associated activities.

Two of the studies asked whether children who spent more time outside also avoided activities such as playing computer games, which involved being close to a computer screen, but no such relationship was found.

Researcher Anthony Khawaja, from Cambridge University, said: “Increasing children’s outdoor time could be a simple and cost-effective measure with important benefits for their vision and general health.”