What should I do if my child is nearsighted?

In 2018, the overall myopia rate among children and adolescents nationwide was 53.6%. In 2019, the overall myopia rate among children and adolescents nationwide was 50.2%. In 2020, affected by the epidemic, children spent most of their time attending online classes at home. The overall myopia rate among children and adolescents in my country was 52.7%. What is this concept? In the same year, the overall myopia rate among British children and adolescents was only 36.7%. The problem of myopia in children cannot be ignored anymore! However, many of our parents still have many misunderstandings about their children\’s myopia, and these misunderstandings will make their children\’s vision develop in a more serious direction. Today we make it clear in one article that it is urgent to protect children’s vision scientifically! How often should preschoolers have their eyesight checked? Due to their young age, many children often do not express their feelings about seeing clearly, making it difficult for parents to detect vision problems in their children. Therefore, regular vision examinations for children have become the most important and effective means of early detection of myopia or other eye diseases in children! Ideally, babies born normally should go to the hospital for refractive screening at 6 months of age. If the baby\’s refractive status is normal, regular examinations can be performed every 6 to 12 months. Premature infants and low birth weight infants should be alert to possible retinopathy due to incomplete retinal development. Therefore, after birth, fundus lesions should be screened and tracked regularly as required. Refractive screening is performed at 6 months of age. Around the age of 3, children must learn to read eye charts from their parents. Check your vision and refraction regularly every 6 to 12 months. During elementary school, this time period is the stage of high incidence of myopia! Must-have collection: How to prevent myopia prevention and control for teenagers series manual in HD PDF. Parents should take their children to regular medical institutions for vision examinations every 6 to 12 months. It is also recommended to conduct optical refraction and axial length measurement to fully understand their children\’s vision. Be aware of the condition of your eyes. How to detect as early as possible whether a child\’s eyes are myopic? When most parents take their children to the hospital for eye examination for the first time, the child\’s myopia is already very high! Therefore, we must be vigilant with our children about the following common early symptoms of myopia. Once they appear, we must take our children to an eye examination in time! Blurry vision at a distance: The child reports that he cannot see the writing on the blackboard clearly, or often complains that the light in the room is too dark. Frequent squinting when looking at distance: Because when squinting, the upper and lower eyelids can block part of the pupil, forming a \”pinhole effect\” and allowing you to see more clearly. Keep your eyes close when doing homework: When a child is doing homework or reading, his eyes are close to each other. Frequent blinking: Frequent blinking can relieve the symptoms of blurred vision to a certain extent and temporarily improve vision. Frequent frowning: Some children with myopia have a habit of frowning as a way of trying to improve their vision. Frequently tilt your head to look at objects: Looking at objects with your head tilted can reduce the impact of scattered light on your vision. Strabismus when looking: Some children with myopia often have the habit of exotropia (when a child looks forward with one eye, the other eye will involuntarily look outward), and parents should also pay attention to this. How to tell if a child is really short-sighted? Or \”pseudomyopia\”? What people call \”fake\” in life\”Accommodative myopia\” refers to the decrease in distance vision caused by excessive eye use, ciliary muscle spasm, and over-adjustment. To be precise, it is a kind of \”accommodative myopia.\” In fact, most children have a certain degree of \”pseudomyopia.\” \”Myopia\”. The most effective way to distinguish pseudomyopia from true myopia is to go to the hospital for a dilated refraction! By using a cycloplegic agent (such as 1% atropine eye ointment or gel) to compare the refraction before and after the medication, this way you can Determine whether the child is true myopia or \”pseudomyopia\”! If the refractive index before taking the medicine meets the criteria for myopia, and the myopia disappears after taking the medicine, and the child is emmetropia or hyperopia, it is \”pseudomyopia\”. If the myopic refraction does not change or the myopia does not change after taking the medicine. If the degree decreases by less than 0.50D (50 degrees), it is true myopia. Once diagnosed as true myopia, can it be cured? Many parents will be very anxious when they hear that their children are myopic and see that there are a variety of myopia treatments on the market. Because of the products, parents \”randomly seek medical advice\” and even ask for folk remedies. However, from the perspective of the principle of myopia, if the child has been diagnosed with myopia, then myopia is irreversible under the current medical technology! Most children have axial myopia, that is, Myopia characterized by the growth of the axial length of the eye. Just like a child\’s height will not become shorter, the axial length of the eye will not shorten. Therefore, once axial myopia caused by the growth of the axial length of the eye occurs, the axial length of the eye will not decrease. , under the current medical technology, myopia cannot be cured. Once parents understand this knowledge, they should not blindly believe in all kinds of false propaganda about curing myopia! Once diagnosed as true myopia, is it necessary to wear glasses? Children with myopia should see When things are blurry, the brain center will improve the blurred state through certain compensation mechanisms (such as squinting, tilting the head, etc.) to improve clarity. If this is done for a long time, it will not only cause eye fatigue in the child, but also It will cause the child\’s myopia to increase! Therefore, wearing glasses of appropriate power in time can help the child see clearly and relieve eye fatigue! There is also a situation where the difference in myopia between the child\’s two eyes is relatively large, and one eye has a low degree. The other eye has a high degree, and you can see clearly when you look at both eyes together. In this case, you also need to wear glasses! If the vision gap between the two eyes is large, not wearing glasses for a long time may affect the brain\’s binocular fusion function, affecting the person with poor vision. Seeing things with that eye interferes with the stereoscopic vision of both eyes, causing poor vision to turn into amblyopia! Generally speaking, for children with myopia, if the degree of myopia does not exceed 100 degrees and their distance vision is not affected, they can postpone wearing glasses. Regular re-examination. If the myopia degree has exceeded 100 degrees, causing a significant decrease in distance vision and affecting study and life, you should wear glasses with a slightly lower degree. They should be worn mainly when looking far, and less or not at all when looking close. . Will wearing glasses make myopia worse? Will the glasses never be \”taken off\”? After discovering that their children are myopic, some parents will resist their children wearing glasses. First, they think it will affect the appearance, and second, they have a deep-rooted belief that wearing glasses It will make myopia deepen faster, and the child will never be able to take off his glasses. This idea is not advisable! First of all, the deepening of myopia is related to environmental factors and genetics.Factors are closely related. Glasses with appropriate power and quality will generally not make myopia worse. If it is discovered that a child\’s myopia is not corrected, it will accelerate the development of the child\’s myopia. At present, wearing glasses after myopia is still a simple and reliable method. Wearing a suitable pair of glasses is of great significance to improve the distance vision of myopic children, restore the normal function of the eyes, and prevent strabismus and amblyopia. Of course, wearing glasses with inappropriate power or substandard quality may accelerate the development of myopia. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain glasses of appropriate power and quality through standardized medical optometry to avoid the above situation. Can outdoor activities really prevent and control myopia? The answer is yes! More and more scientific research shows that 2 hours of outdoor activities a day can effectively prevent the occurrence and development of myopia, and is currently the most cost-effective and effective myopia prevention and control measure. Compared with outdoor activities, indoor activities have no obvious effect in preventing myopia in children. Therefore, outdoor exercise under \”sunlight\” can achieve better results. Parents should take the initiative to take their children to outdoor activities and soak up the sunshine. Does a child\’s sleep quality have an impact on myopia? According to a press conference held by the National Health Commission, in the results of the 2018 Myopia Survey among Children and Adolescents, 73% of students in my country did not meet the standard for sleep hours every day! A survey of primary and secondary school students aged 7 to 18 found that students who had less daily physical exercise, less sleep time, and longer homework time were more likely to be suspected of being myopic! Normal circadian rhythms play an important role in human eye development, and sleep disorders may interfere with or interrupt the regulatory mechanisms that control the emmetropization growth process of the eye, resulting in refractive errors. Parents need to pay attention to: Since the child is in an important period of growth and development, if the child does not get enough sleep, it may not only lead to myopia, but may also affect the secretion of growth hormone, thereby affecting growth and development and various functional states of the body, leading to fatigue, Drowsiness, decreased resistance, etc. How to use electronic products without causing or aggravating myopia? Early and excessive use of electronic devices is one of the causes of myopia in preschool. In order to prevent their children from crying, some parents often show their mobile phones to their children, making mobile phones a must-have toy for their children. However, prolonged exposure to such electronic devices can cause damage to children’s eyesight! Therefore, it is recommended that children should not use electronic products before the age of 3. They should not use electronic game consoles before the age of 6. Strictly control the time of using electronic products before the age of 9. Try not to let children browse the web alone before the age of 12. In addition, many parents are also concerned about when their children can start watch TV? According to the opinions of the American Academy of Pediatrics, it is recommended that children under 2 years old not watch TV at all, and children should be kept away from TV as much as possible. The age of 3 to 5 is a critical period for children to develop their concentration. Watching TV will unknowingly worsen children\’s concentration. At the age of 3 to 5 years, it is recommended to watch TV for no more than 1 hour a day and take a break every 15 minutes. In what ways should parents protect their children\’s vision? (1) Understand the scientific knowledge of eye protection. Drive and help children develop good eye-use habits and provide a good visual environment at home as much as possible. (2) Correct confirmationUnderstand the importance of outdoor activities. Allow children to spend more time outdoors in the sun. It is recommended to have 2 hours of outdoor activities every day to prevent and delay the progression of myopia. (3) Control the use of electronic products. The use of electronic products for non-study purposes should not exceed 15 minutes at a time, and should not exceed 1 hour in total per day. After using electronic products to study for 30 to 40 minutes, you should rest and relax for 10 minutes. The younger you are, the shorter the time you use electronic products continuously. (4) Ensure children’s sleep time. Ensure that primary school students sleep 10 hours a day. Let your children eat more fish, fruits, green vegetables and other nutritious meals that are good for healthy eyesight. (5) Achieve early detection and early intervention. When you find that your child is squinting to see things or cannot see the blackboard clearly in class, take him to an eye medical institution for examination in a timely manner. Follow the doctor\’s advice for scientific intervention and myopia correction, and undergo optometry at an ophthalmology department in a regular medical institution to avoid incorrect correction methods that may worsen myopia. CCTV Recommendation: Over 500 high-scoring excellent documentaries are recommended. Children will become addicted to self-discipline after watching it. As the saying goes, the eyes are the windows to the soul. Children\’s eyes and vision problems should receive more attention from parents. Starting from the details in life, we can keep children away from myopia!