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An epidemic of myopia, or nearsightedness, is occurring at younger ages. Too much screentime and not enough time outdoors have been pinpointed as the likely culprits.
STORY AT-A-GLANCE

The way technology has infiltrated our lives, in many cases from morning until well into the night, has dramatically changed the way humans use their eyes in just a short blip of time
The prevalence of myopia (nearsightedness) has increased in recent decades, especially in East Asia, and the numbers are expected to get worse in the next 50 years
For some populations in Asia, especially university students, myopia prevalence is over 90%
When a person is nearsighted, their eyeballs become elongated, an anatomical change that's irreversible and increases the risk of serious vision problems, including blindness
Home confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with worsening myopia in children
No treatments are capable of curing myopia; prevention is a better option, and spending more time outdoors — and far less time on screens — is key, especially for children

Myopia, or nearsightedness, causes faraway objects to appear blurry while close-up objects look clear. One of the greatest risk factors for myopia is having a parent who also suffers from this vision problem.1 As such, it's long been considered a primarily genetic condition — until recently....