News

Thursday 8th January 2009

Playing outside helps children's eyesight

Aussie study shows sunlight helps vision

Playing outside can help children's eyesight, claims a new Australian study.

Research shows spending two or three hours a day outside can halve the chance of youngsters becoming short-sighted. Previously, it had been thought myopia was caused by watching too much TV, computer use or reading in poor light. Now a study has shown children who spend more time out in the daylight have less chance of becoming short-sighted.

Scientists compared the habits of six and seven-year-olds in Australia and Singapore. Thirty percent of the Singaporean children were short-sighted – ten times the rate of the Australian youngsters. They had similar habits when it came to TV watching and computer use, but the Australian children spent an average of two hours outside playing – 90 minutes more than the Singaporean children. Scientists think sunlight triggers the release of dopamine – it is more powerful than indoor light – and this stops the eyeball from growing out of shape and causing myopia.

Prof Ian Morgan, of the Australian Research Council's Vision Centre, said: 'We're seeing large increases in myopia among children in urban societies all around the world – and the outstanding common factor may be less and less time spent outdoors. The idea that reading makes you short-sighted has been popular for a couple of hundred years. But recent data shows that the time spent indoors is a more important factor.'

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