Society
Over 50% Chinese adolescents short-sighted
By Zuo Likun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-02-04 10:50
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Nearly 400 million Chinese are short-sighted and the myopia rate among the country's spoon-fed adolescents hits a staggering high of 50 to 60 percent, according to an international research cited by People's Daily Thursday.
The latest report on children nearsightedness co-conducted by Chinese, American and Australian specialists said the Chinese myopia rate, already 1.5 times higher than the global average, is climbing, raising serious concern for people's health, the newspaper said.
At a group vision examination at Beijing Tongren Hospital on January 29, Chen Wenyan, a fifth grade pupil, didn't care much about her blurred eyesight. The teenager has a 20/40 vision already, a cut-off point of uncorrected myopia.
"Classmates (short-sighted) like me are not few, we just don't wear glasses," Chen said.
Myopia can develop throughout adolescence before final stabilization in the late teens. It has less to do with one's constitution but more out of a unhealthy lifestyle, such as playing long video games and TV watching, said Xu Liang, an ophthalmologist at the hospital.
Xu also warned there is a higher risk of cataract among glasses wearers and suggested more outdoor activities to avoid eye-focusing on objects nearby for too long.
