Beware! High myopia is quietly targeting teenagers

As children use their eyes more and use more electronic devices, myopia is becoming more common. Epidemiological surveys in my country show that the myopia rate among primary and secondary school students is increasing year by year, and is becoming younger and more severe. The myopia rate among children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 is about 53.6%, and the high myopia rate among senior high school students is as high as 20%[1].

When a child's myopia is greater than 600 degrees and the axial length of the eye is greater than 26 mm, it has entered the stage of high myopia. It may be too late for parents to pay attention to it at this time. Myopia is irreversible. High myopia not only affects children's daily life, but also poses a potential threat to their eye health and even their overall health.

The formation of high myopia is the result of the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors.

Genetic factors

High myopia has a clear genetic tendency. Related studies have shown that the risk of myopia in children whose parents are myopic is significantly increased, and is positively correlated with the degree of myopia of their parents. For high myopia, especially early-onset high myopia and pathological myopia, the role of genetic factors is more obvious [1].

Environmental factors

The eyeballs of children and adolescents are in the growth and development stage, and the eye axis will gradually lengthen as the body grows. Under normal circumstances, the eye axis growth will be accompanied by the improvement of vision. However, if the eye axis growth exceeds the normal range, it may develop into myopia prematurely. At the same time, children are in the learning stage. Close-up eye load, insufficient outdoor activities, irregular writing posture, unbalanced diet, and long-term use of electronic products may accelerate the progression of myopia, thereby increasing the risk of high myopia.

The dangers of high myopia

Many parents and children think that high myopia is just "a little higher in degree" or "a little thicker in lens", but it is not true. High myopia is likely to develop into pathological myopia, which will not only increase the eye axis and thin the eyeball wall, but also cause fundus macular degeneration, retinal detachment, cataracts, and glaucoma.

For children with high myopia, their sports choices are also restricted. Intense sports such as diving, bungee jumping, mountain biking, boxing, etc. may increase the risk of eye injuries due to severe impact, fluctuations in intraocular pressure or external force collision.

Therefore, when children show symptoms of fundus complications caused by high myopia, such as blurred vision, distorted vision, floating black shadows in front of the eyes, flashing lights, visual field defects, etc., they should seek medical attention promptly.

How to prevent and treat high myopia

Good eye habits should be developed from childhood to adolescence to prevent the occurrence of myopia. Children who are already myopic or have signs of myopia should be intervened and corrected in time to avoid the degree of myopia increasing too quickly and affecting their study and life.

Parents should establish a refractive file for their children in time. The refractive development file is like a "growth record book" for the child's eyes, which records in detail the child's vision, refractive status and other information at different ages. By monitoring these data through regular vision examinations, abnormal vision trends can be discovered in time, and intervention can be carried out in advance to avoid the occurrence of some eye diseases.

Do a good job in four checks and one file building

Protecting children and adolescents from myopia throughout the entire cycle

When children are not nearsighted, they should check their "hyperopia reserve" to build a strong visual protection wall; when blurred vision first appears, they should check "true and false myopia" to prevent false myopia from developing into true myopia; after myopia is confirmed, they should check "high myopia risk" and customize scientific prevention and control plans to avoid the development of high myopia; those with high myopia should check "fundus complications" to maintain the eye health defense line. By establishing a refractive development file for children and dynamically understanding their eye conditions, they can do a good job in myopia management from prevention to control.

Content source:

[1] Expert consensus on the prevention and control of high myopia (2023)

Medical knowledge is for reference only and is not used as a basis for diagnosis