Rise in childhood short-sightedness may be linked to pandemic

A rise in cases of short-sightedness among children may be linked to time spent indoors during the coronavirus pandemic, researchers report.

Experts based in Hong Kong have analysed links between myopia in children and the lockdown of schools and colleges, among other institutions, to help curb the spread of Covid-19.

For the paper, completed as part of the Hong Kong Children Eye Study (HKCES), researchers studied the eyes of nearly 1,800 children and monitored them for around eight months.

Accordingly, they found that around 20 per cent of the children developed short-sightedness between January and August 2020, compared with around 37 per cent of those in the pre-Covid-19 group over a period of three years.

They academics suggested the eye issues coincided with a reduction in the time the kids spent outdoors, from around an hour and 15 minutes to around 24 minutes per day and an increase in screen time from around 2.5 hours per day to an estimated seven hours.

While the findings might not reflect the impact of Covid-19 in other parts of the world, where social distancing, quarantine, and school closure policies may be different, the researchers commented: "Despite all these insurmountable study limitations, our initial results still show an alarming myopia progression that warrants appropriate remedial action."

In conclusion, the team insisted that the findings "serve to warn eye care professionals, and also policy makers, educators and parents, that collective efforts are needed to prevent childhood myopia, a potential public health crisis as a result of Covid-19."

Full study results have been published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.