Elementary and junior high school students 90% myopia Risk of blindness "strength myopia" is 10% of junior high school students November 3, 20:09

As for myopia, a group of Keio University surveyed 1,400 elementary and junior high school students in Tokyo. Nearly 90% of all myopia were nearsighted, and about 10% of junior high school students in particular had an increased risk of developing diseases that could lead to blindness in the future. It turns out that it is "intensity myopia". The research team needs to take immediate measures.

As for myopia, when the eyeball stretches back and forth, the focus is not well adjusted and it looks blurred, and when it becomes `` intensity myopia '' that can not be seen clearly unless the object is brought close to about 17 cm with the naked eye, The risk of developing diseases that lead to blindness, such as retinal detachment and glaucoma, is said to increase.

A research group at Keio University examined the state of the eyes of 1416 students, including students from some elementary and junior high schools in Tokyo, in an attempt to clarify the reality of children's myopia.

As a result, myopia was
▽ 76.5% of 689 elementary school students,
▽ 94.9% of 727 junior high school students,
Especially in junior high school students, at least 9.9%, 72 people were “intensity myopia”.

Myopia is said to increase as children's outdoor activities decrease, and in 2050,
About 4.8 billion people, half of the world population, are short-sighted,
940 million people are near myopia,
WHO = World Health Organization is showing serious concern.

Professor Kazuo Tsubota of Keio University points out that “There are few data on children's myopia and there are few measures in Japan. It is an urgent issue that should be tackled at the national level.”

High myopia Risk of retinal detachment and blindness

When myopia progresses and the intensity of myopia cannot be clearly seen unless the object is brought close to the object up to approximately 17 cm with the naked eye, tissues such as the retina in the back of the eye are stretched or pressed by the stretched eyeball, and are easily damaged. In the future, the risk of illnesses such as retinal detachment and glaucoma will increase.

At the eye clinic in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, where many myopic children visit, about 1 in 10 children diagnosed with “myopic myopia” may be a patient.

A boy in the 4th grade who visited the clinic on the day of the interview was diagnosed with high myopia. The naked eye sight was less than 0.1 for both eyes.

It was diagnosed that the eyeball was stretched and the retina receiving the light stimulus from the outside was thinly stretched, and there was a risk of retinal detachment that could lead to blindness in the future.

The boy's mother said, “I am worried because I have been told that my chances of losing my eye are not zero. I want to check my eye condition regularly.

Myopia is rapidly increasing around the world, especially in Asia. According to an estimate made by research groups such as Australia three years ago, 940 million people, one-tenth of the world population, will become intense myopia in 2050. It is predicted.

For this reason, measures are being taken to reduce the number of people with myopia around the world.

Recent studies have shown that people who are outdoors for two hours a day and are exposed to sufficient light can suppress the onset of myopia. Since 2011, physical education classes are required to be held 150 minutes a week outdoors, and other subjects recommend outdoor classes.

Some schools take a lot of outdoor plant observations in science classes, as well as knowing the amount of light and the amount of time they are exposed to with light sensors attached to their children's necks.

This means that in Taiwan as a whole, the number of children with vision below 0.8 has decreased by more than 5% over the past seven years.

“This is an effective way to reduce the speed of visual acuity by leading to outdoor activities. Children are happy, don't spend too much money,” said the director of the Taiwan Education Department.

On the other hand, in Japan, there is no survey on how many myopic children are in the country, and according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, children's visual acuity currently decreases with exercise time, study, reading, game time, etc. It ’s a stage where we ’re investigating whether it ’s relevant.

Naoko Hirayama, Director of the Health Education and Food Education Division of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recognizes that myopia is a very important issue. I want to proceed urgently. "