Myopia prevention and control for children and adolescents: lighting up the world with nursery rhymes

Author: Li Min, attending physician at Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital

Reviewer: Zou Jun, Chief Physician, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital

The harm of high myopia is obvious to all. It is not only imperative but also urgent to prevent and control myopia in children and adolescents. The following nursery rhyme is easy to understand and I hope it can help children and their parents understand and remember how to prevent and control myopia.

It is important to prevent and control myopia as early as possible, children should remember this.

It is important to establish refractive records early and review them on time.

Axis length monitoring is the key point, and the length is equivalent to measuring height.

Getting enough sleep for ten hours can help improve your learning efficiency.

Hold the pen and write with the correct posture, without leaning, sideways or bending over.

The time you use your eyes should be shortened, and you should look into the distance during breaks.

Two hours of outdoor activities can help you grow taller.

Enjoy the sunshine to keep healthy and have bright eyes and a lovely baby.

Below we will introduce in detail the six basic principles for preventing and controlling myopia among adolescents mentioned in this nursery rhyme.

1. Establish a refractive development profile from an early age

During the newborn's health checkup, parents should actively screen their children for vision. In order to continuously track and monitor the children's vision development, it is particularly important to establish a refractive development file. From the age of 3, regular vision and refractive development examinations should be conducted every 3 to 6 months. Through such regular monitoring, we can effectively prevent and control the occurrence of vision problems such as myopia, and create a clearer and healthier visual world for children.

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2. Axis monitoring is important

Axial length is one of the key parameters for measuring refractive development. If a child's axial length grows rapidly in a short period of time, this is often a significant signal of increased risk of myopia. In order to ensure the health of children's vision, children and adolescents should undergo 2 to 4 comprehensive vision examinations a year, including close monitoring of refractive status and axial length. Through such regular monitoring, we can accurately grasp the development trend of children's myopia, and tailor scientific and reasonable prevention and intervention measures for them accordingly, to help children have a clearer and healthier vision.

3. Maintain the correct reading and writing posture

When doing homework, children should maintain a correct sitting posture, ensuring that their backs are straight. They should not slouch on the desk for comfort, nor twist their necks to form a crooked head posture. We should strictly follow the golden rule of "one foot, one fist, and one inch": specifically, the distance between the eyes and the book should be maintained at about one foot (equivalent to 33 cm), which can effectively relieve eye fatigue; at the same time, the distance between the body and the desk should be maintained at a distance of one fist (about 6 cm), which helps to conform to the natural curvature of the spine and prevent hunchbacks; furthermore, the distance between the fingers holding the pen and the tip of the pen should also be maintained at about one inch (about 3 cm), which can not only improve the quality of writing, but also prevent hand fatigue.

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4. Get 10 hours of sleep

The nutritional intake and sleep quality of children and adolescents, as the cornerstones of shaping future physical fitness, are closely related to their health status in adulthood. Therefore, parents should pay special attention to cultivating their regular and healthy living habits.

In terms of sleep, ideally, children and adolescents should get at least 10 hours of high-quality sleep every day, which not only helps the body recover and grow, but also promotes brain development and memory consolidation. At the same time, in terms of diet, we should also advocate the concept of a balanced diet. Encourage children to eat more colorful fruits and vegetables, which are rich in vitamins, inorganic salts and dietary fiber, and can effectively promote physical health. On the contrary, high-calorie, low-nutrition foods such as sweets and fried foods should be appropriately restricted to avoid adverse effects on children's health.

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5. 2 hours of outdoor activities

Outdoor activities are not only a pleasant way to relax, but also an effective way to prevent and control myopia. For the sake of children's vision health, parents should take positive actions and lead their children to participate in outdoor activities more often, ensuring that the cumulative time of outdoor activities reaches or exceeds 2 hours per day. Outdoors, children can overlook the vast natural scenery, which can fully relax the eye muscles and effectively relieve the eye fatigue caused by long-term staring at close objects. At the same time, sunlight exposure in outdoor environments also plays a vital role. When sunlight shines on the skin, the brain secretes a neurotransmitter called "dopamine". This magical chemical has the effect of inhibiting the abnormal growth of the eye axis and can delay the development of myopia.

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6. Three "20s" should be promoted

Students should try to avoid using their eyes for long periods of time at close range, especially when doing activities that require high concentration, such as reading and writing. Specifically, the time for each continuous reading and writing should be controlled within 40 minutes to avoid excessive fatigue of the eyes due to long-term tension. At the same time, students should also remember and implement the "20-20-20" rule, that is, after using their eyes at close range for 20 minutes, they should immediately turn their eyes to a distant object 20 feet (about 6 meters) away and continue to stare at the object for at least 20 seconds to relax their eyes and relieve the tension of the eye muscles.

Through the above diverse approaches, we aim to guide children on their path to knowledge, cultivate and maintain healthy eye habits, and thus effectively reduce the prevalence of myopia. Let us work together to build a solid line of defense to protect children's precious vision health and ensure that they can thrive in a bright and clear world.

Let us love and protect our eyes together, and may all children have bright eyes!