China News Service Client, Beijing, June 6th (Reporter Zhang Ni) "I am embarrassed to say that I have read high school without glasses." Recently, a netizen on the Internet reflected the current health problem faced by Chinese society-myopia High incidence.

  Data from the National Health and Health Commission show that in China, the myopia rate of high school students has reached more than 80%. Myopia in children and adolescents has become the main cause of visual impairment in China. On the 6th, when the nation's "eye-love day" is coming, let us focus on how to save "little glasses".

Data map: The doctor is optometry the patient. Photo by Zhong Xin

The data is worrying! Over 80% of Chinese high school students are short-sighted

  Refractive error myopia is the eye health problem with the highest incidence and the largest age span in the world. Among them, high myopia retinopathy accounts for a relatively high proportion of the causes of blindness.

  According to the "China Eye Health White Paper" released by the National Health and Health Commission on the 5th, the overall myopia rate of children and adolescents nationwide in 2018 was 53.6%. Among them, 14.5% of 6-year-old children, 36.0% of primary school students, 71.6% of junior high school students, and 81.0% of high school students. Myopia in children and adolescents has become the main cause of visual impairment in China.

  Statistics from WHO also confirm the unoptimistic situation.

  In October 2019, the World Health Organization released its first World Vision Report. The report estimates that at least 2.2 billion people worldwide have impaired vision or are blind. Among them, at least one billion people's visual impairment problems could have been avoided through prevention.

  In China, the number of people with impaired eyesight is also staggering.

  The above report recalls several epidemiological surveys that in some areas of China, the incidence of dry eye in adults over 40 years old is about 30%, the incidence of pterygium in rural areas reaches 33%, and the myopia rate of urban youth is as high as 67 %.

Data map

One of the culprits of excessive use of electronic products

  Why are more and more people suffering from visual impairment, especially myopia?

  The analysis in the World Vision Report stated that the aging population, lifestyle changes and limited access to eye care are the main factors for the increasing number of visually impaired people, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

  In modern society, people stay indoors for a long time and engage in a lot of "near work", which causes more and more people to have myopia. Increasing outdoor activity time can reduce this risk.

  In China, factors such as high academic pressure, lack of outdoor activities, excessive use of electronic products, and low overall awareness of prevention and control are considered by ophthalmologists as the main factors that cause high incidence of myopia.

  Earlier, the "2019 National Internet Use Research Report on Minors" jointly released by the Youth League Department of the Communist Youth League and the China Internet Network Information Center shows that China has reached 175 million underage netizens.

  The "China Children's Development Report (2019)-Children's Out-of-School Life Status" released in August 2019 mentioned that children use electronic products for an average of 43.24 minutes per day on school days, especially on weekends. Long, with an average of 96.27 minutes.

  The leader of the National Defense Blind Technical Guidance Group Wang Ningli emphasized at a press conference held recently by the National Health and Health Commission that the content design in electronic products is more attractive. When people look at electronic products, they spend more time than paper products. want more. In addition, the documents, reading screens and papers displayed by electronic products are different, the adjustment contrast sensitivity is different, and the various light waves received by the eyes are also different. Therefore, the damage to eyes caused by electronic products is often more serious.

Data Map Wei Liangshe

National target: Myopia rate of primary school students should be reduced to below 38% by 2030

  The problem of myopia has attracted the attention of relevant departments.

  In order to do a good job in the prevention and treatment of myopia, in June 2018, the National Health and Health Commission simultaneously issued three guidelines: "Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Myopia", "Guidelines for the Treatment of Amblyopia" and "Guidelines for the Treatment of Strabismus".

  In August of the same year, the Ministry of Education, the National Health Commission and other eight departments jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Prevention and Control of Children and Adolescent Myopia".

  The "Proposal" puts forward the goal of reducing myopia rate-by 2030, to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of new-onset myopia in children and adolescents, and a significant improvement in the overall level of vision health. Below 38%, the myopia rate of junior high school students drops below 60%, and the myopia rate of high school students drops below 70%.

  In October 2019, the National Health and Health Commission's CDC organized and issued the "Guidelines for the Appropriate Technical Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Myopia in Children and Adolescents" to guide the scientific and standardized development of prevention and control work and improve the technical capabilities of prevention and control.

  From 2016 to 2019, the theme of the national "eye-love day" focused on the prevention and control of myopia in children and adolescents for four consecutive years. It can be seen that the prevention and control of myopia has become a national strategy.

Data map: Check the vision of myopic patients. Photo by Huang Dan

Several misunderstandings about myopia:

Myth 1: Doesn’t the child’s vision need to be checked frequently?

  Vision development is generally basically mature at 5-6 years old, but the vision of preschool children is still developing, and the vision of children of different ages is also different. If the visual acuity is the same for all ages, it means there is a problem.

  Therefore, it is best to check the eyesight of preschool children every six months to prevent the development of visual acuity. Once problems are found, they should be treated in time.

Misunderstanding 2: The glasses can't be worn, the worse they wear?

  There are many parents who think that the child is just too small for pseudomyopia without treatment, or feel that the glasses will become deeper and deeper once they are put on, and they refuse to wear glasses for their children.

  But ophthalmologists said that if myopia occurs, without glasses, children will not see clearly in the distance, but it is easy to cause a rapid increase in myopia. If you wear a suitable pair of glasses, it will help his vision development and help control myopia.

Misunderstanding 3: Myopia is just an operation

  The operation of myopia is the same as wearing glasses. It corrects refractive errors. The eye is still myopic, which is equivalent to wearing a concave lens. Although you can see clearly, if you don't pay attention to protect your eyes, myopia will happen again.

Myth #4: I believe "artifact" can cure myopia

  So far, myopia can be corrected, but there is no method and technique to cure myopia.

Data map: Elementary school students take physical education classes outdoors. China News Service reporter Liu Wenhua

Tips for preventing myopia:

  1. When we use electronic products, do not use them for too long. Read paper content for 40 minutes, electronic products should be controlled within 20 minutes, and then relax your eyes.

  Second, the screen should not choose the contrast ratio too high and too bright, so that the brightness entering the retina of the eye will exceed the physiological threshold we need.

  3. When we are attentive, the frequency of involuntary blinking of our eyes will decrease, that is, the frequency of closing our eyes will drop significantly. This exposes the cornea to dry air outside. Therefore, we must take the initiative to blink in the process of reading and working.

  Fourth, to protect your eyes, telephoto is the most important. After using your eyes for a while, be sure to force yourself to go to the window and look at objects 5 meters away for 10 minutes. (Finish)