Nearsightedness of kids in the US is getting worse

Special lenses may help slow progression, research says

Adrianna Rodriguez

USA TODAY

Doctors are looking for creative ways to solve an eye problem becoming more common among children and teens.

Myopia, the medical term for nearsightedness, is a vision condition where close objects look clear but far objects look blurry, said David Berntsen, professor of optometry and chair of clinical sciences at the University of Houston College of Optometry. While increased screen time could be a culprit, it’s not definitively so.

Up until now, the standard treatment for myopia was to prescribe corrective lenses. But Berntsen and a team of researchers looked into how multifocal contact lenses could slow the progression of this disease.

Myopia occurs when the shape of the eye causes light rays to bend and focus in front of the retina instead of on it. The retina is a nerve at the back of the eye that converts light into electrical signals for the brain to process into an image, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The problem typically begins in childhood. Babies are born farsighted, but vision normally corrects with growth. In kids with myopia, the eye grows too much, passing beyond the point of focusing the image.

In Berntsen’s study, nearly 300 children, ages 7 to 11, were randomly assigned to wear regular, single-vision contact lenses or multifocal lenses. After three years of wearing contacts, the children with multifocal lenses had the slowest rate of myopia progression and eye growth, according to the report published last week in JAMA Ophthalmology. Researchers also found that these benefits persisted even after discontinuing the multifocal lenses.

This could be an effective strategy in slowing myopia progression in children, Berntsen said. Especially as the problem appears to be getting worse among U.S. children.

Myopia rates in the U.S. have skyrocketed over the past 50 years, from 25% in the 1970s to nearly 42% in 2017, according to the National Eye Institute. The agency predicts half the world will be nearsighted by 2050.

Myopia affects about 5% of preschoolers, 9% of school-aged children and 30% of teens in the U.S., according to HealthyChildren.org, a parenting website by the American Academy of Pediatrics. A study in China suggests it could have become more common in children after the COVID-19 pandemic forced remote learning.

The research is mixed on why this is happening. Some studies attribute the growing prevalence to more screen time and less time outdoors, but Berntsen said other robust studies have failed to find this link.

‘There’s not a definitive answer of why,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of research going into why that’s happening.’

Committee members at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine said in a September report that nearsightedness has become an ‘evolving epidemic’ that requires more research, standardization of care and early prevention.

Another way of preventing myopia progression includes using low-dose atropine eye drops, which are typically used to help dilate pupils during an eye exam, according to HealthyChildren.org.

Berntsen said research has shown that spending time outdoors is protective against myopia. Developing eyes may benefit from natural light at different wavelengths, looking at long distances and appreciating horizons.

‘A couple of hours a day is a fantastic message, not just for preventing myopia, but also for general physical health,’ Berntsen said.

Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@usatoday.com.