America
Can daylight in schools protect eyesight of kids?
New York, March 29
A century-old belief that
high daylight levels in schools could prevent short sight or myopia may
be true even today, suggests a study.
The results, published in
the journal Perspectives in Public Health, compared the history of
school myopia with the bone disease rickets.
Myopia, like
rickets, is a seasonal condition which seems to get worse in the winter.
Recent research on myopia has revived an old theory that school
children who spend more time outdoors have lower levels of myopia, the
study noted.
"However, unlike rickets, low ambient light levels
rather than low vitamin D levels seem to be the deciding factor in
myopia," it said.
"It has not been investigated properly since
the connection was first made in the 1860s," said study author Richard
Hobday, an independent researcher.
"But, given the rapid increase in myopia among school children worldwide, this should be revisited," Hobday added.
A
century ago, it was widely believed that high daylight levels in
schools could prevent myopia. Education departments built classrooms
with large windows to try to stop children becoming short-sighted.
Then in 1960s, medical thinking changed.
Myopia
was thought to be an inherited condition; so less was done to prevent
it. Today, it is known that children's education has a far greater
impact on their sight than genetic factors, the study pointed out.