Physical Exercise as a Way to Combat Myopia Prevalence

By Samuel Mwangi N.

What is Myopia?

 Myopia was defined as an SE refraction ≤−0.50D and an uncorrected visual acuity <5.0 in either eye in layman’s language nearsightedness.

Researchers in a paper for Translational Vision Science & Technology notes that the overall high prevalence of myopia is a serious public health problem among school children and teenagers.  “Taken together, these results highlight the emergent need for efforts to control myopia in school-aged children,” the authors commented in their article

Some physical exercises play a crucial role in combatting myopia as observed by researchers. Physical activities may effectively reduce the probability of becoming myopic in children aged six to 12 years and promote eye health.

The researchers further claim that, physical exercise relieves eye fatigue caused by long-term attention to static objects and improves the overall health level of the body to promote the development of visual function of teenagers and prevent the decline of myopia and other visual functions. 

Physical exercises are also crucial in combatting diseases like diabetes. Diabetes patients are prone to getting diabetic retinopathy which is a disease that damages the retina- a light sensitive tissue at the back of your eye that contains photoreceptor cells called; rods and cones respectively which are crucial in turning light into electrical signals. These electrical signals help your brain to create internal images of the world.

The prevalence of myopia over the years has consistently been higher in females than males in different physical activity categories, which has also been observed in previous studies. This might be decided by biological factors, outdoor activity time and a high amount of near-vision work. Boys are normally hyper and engage in physical activities more than girls from an early age and this could explain the myopic difference in both. 

Large international studies show that girls have better reading scores and attitudes than boys around the world. Boys also spend more time on games and computers than girls. The increase in working hours on near work is an important risk factor for myopia, but this effect can be compensated for by increasing outdoor time.

In conclusion, physical exercises do play a crucial role in reducing myopia prevalence among younger children and teens.