Playing outdoors in the sun reduces the risk of myopia in children, according to an Australian Research Council study highlighted by Today (Here’s sunny hope for the short-sighted; Wednesday, January 7, 2009).
Ultraviolet light stops the eyeball from growing longer which results in myopia.
The Today report indicates that up to 90 percent of Singaporean students wear glasses by the time they leave school as opposed to just 20 per cent of Australians at a similar life stage.
30 percent of six and seven-year-old Singaporeans are myopic while only 1.3 percent of Australians are at the same age. The Australian study compared ethnic Chinese children in Singapore and Australia to remove ethnicity as a factor.
A look at any Housing & Development Board (HDB) estate in Singapore will confirm the state of affairs.
The playgrounds are typically empty because children usually prefer to stay indoors these days. Even if they did want to go out, caregivers are loath to let them out of their sight. A glance around parks nestled in housing estates will also yield few youngsters.
Another reason is that youths are often stuck in school for various Co-Curricular Activities (CCA). And if they out of school, they are stuck in tuition or other enrichment classes.
Some parents are also paranoid about seeing their young children turn a darker shade from the sun and keep them indoors during the day.
Singapore’s myopia problem is so severe that it has emerged as a national security issue. The Defense Science & Technology Agency in Singapore conducted a study with 15,000 pre-enlistees and found that 80% wore glasses.
DSTA’s Defence Medical Research Institute is investing in research to help combat the problem. But it looks like the solution is right outside every home on our tropical island – sunshine.
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Hi Jimmy,
Yes. It’s a challenge to let our kids play. I realised part of the challenge is the way we have structured our environment. There is now little or no chance to let your children wander free and play outdoors because of the urban set up.
So the obesity and myopia problem is a self-constructed one.
I notice too that our national age group and senior footballers also tend to get into problems with diarrhoea when they travel. Not sure if it’s related but I guess the general level of ruggedness has dropped.
Your article says it all, most Singaporean parents and caregivers (grandparents and maids) are kiasu and the number of hours the kids spent in schools is also a contributing factor. I have lived in New Zealand for many years (married to a New Zealander) and have observed many differences between our kids and theirs. They are very active outdoors instead of spending time on PSPs or pc games, their parents do not load them with tuition and enrichment classes, the caregivers do not say discouraging things like “don’t run or you will fall and hurt yourself”, the schools do not hold the kids back after school hours and the parents are actively involved with their kids in sports during weekends. On Saturday mornings, I see kids learning a sport like rugby or cricket, coached by either parents or professional coaches and you know why New Zealand (with a population similar to Singapore) is so successful in these sports. They let their kids “PLAY”.