A new report declares that by 2050, short-sightedness in children is projected to double as new research finds. According to a new review of more than 5.4 million young people across 50 countries, a new data analysis highlighted a disturbing trend in childhood vision impairment.
Only 24% of children were myopic by the 1990s. This rose to 30% in the 2010s and burst into 36% in 2023, meaning that a couple of one in three children today need glasses.
It is also reported that the girls are more prone to be a short-sighted compared with boys, and an urban setting is more prone for short-sight compared to a person living in a rural area. More concerning is the fact is that teenagers are the most prone to the same, where 54% of the population aged 12-19 is short-sighted compared with more than double that percentage for children under the age of 12.
The study has been published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology after research conducted by Sun Yat-Sen University in China with analysis of 276 research papers and government reports published through June 2023. It indicates that growth in screen time and indoor activities most likely caused a sharp increase in vision problems starting in 2020.
Researchers identified that new evidence indicates a potential link between the COVID-19 pandemic with growing vision impairment in young adults.
Countries where school entry age was earlier, particularly in Asia, accounted for the largest percentages of severe vision impairment, while African nations, where school entry age is much later, age six to eight, showed the lowest.
