Apples for Health- Time outdoors reduces nearsightedness risk

Time outdoors reduces nearsightedness risk

BOSTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Spending two to three hours a day outdoors can markedly lower a child's risk of developing nearsightedness, U.S. researchers said.

The study, published in Optometry & Vision Science, found the critical factor for reducing the development of myopia in children seems to be total time spent outdoors during daylight hours.

However, sports or physical activity does not appear to play a role: studies found that both active and passive outdoor activities had a protective effect on vision while sports played indoors were found not to have this effect.

One of the issue's guest editors, Donald Mutti reports a child's chances of becoming myopic -- if he or she has two myopic biological parents -- are about 6 in 10 for children engaging in 0-5 hours per week of outdoor activity, but the risk drops to 2 in 10 when outdoor activity exceeds 14 hours a week.

"The features of outdoor activity -- e.g. sunlight, distance viewing -- that may be protective against myopia development remain to be determined," researchers Jane Gwiazda and Li Deng of the New England College of Optometry in Boston said in a statement.