Event tackles myopia among students

Starting earlier

Official data for the past three years show that more than half the minors in the country have myopia.

Last month, the Ministry of Education and other authorities released a work plan involving eight measures to prevent and control myopia among minors for the next five years.

The measures include easing students' academic burdens, increasing time spent on outdoor activities, avoiding excessive use of digital products, and achieving full coverage of eyesight monitoring.

In Shidian, a spot check last year found that the myopia rate among local middle and primary school students was 52 percent. For middle school students, it was 75 percent, according to Jiang Zijian, vice-governor of the county.

Local teachers said myopia is being experienced by a rising number of children and is occurring at an earlier age.

Xu Yanan and Zhang Zhongmei, both 10, are the best friends of Yuan, the fifth-grade primary school student. Neither of her friends was aware that they could not see clearly and were surprised to learn after an eye examination that they had around 250 degrees of myopia.

Xu, who wants to become a dress designer, said, "Without the charity event, it could have been a long time before I had the opportunity to learn that I had problems with my eyesight."

The three girls said they often use their mobiles to search for learning material and watch television series. They do not have tablets or computers.

They said it was the first time they had undergone an eye checkup with optical equipment.

Yuan said, "We once had an eye check with a visual chart at school, but the teachers didn't remind us that the next step was an examination, treatment, or getting glasses."

Yang Jin, secretary-general of Education in Sight, said she rarely sees a primary school student wearing eyeglasses when entering the classroom for a checkup, but more than a few need glasses.

Xu Xiaoli, an eyeglass lens distributor from Changchun, Jilin province, who worked as a volunteer for the visual chart section of the charity event, said she is saddened whenever a child cannot see all the signs on the chart properly.

"Some students told me that for a long time they had been unable to see words on the classroom blackboard, but didn't dare tell their parents or feel the need to," she said.

Li Xuejiao, a doctor at the Hospital Affiliated with Yunnan University in Kunming, who specializes in children's eye diseases, also worked as a volunteer at the charity event. She said more than 10 children had severe cases of myopia, including high-level hyperopia, a condition in which nearby objects appear blurred, but distant ones are more clearly visible.

She said it is hard for children with uncorrected hyperopia to read or write, and most severe cases of the condition are congenital.

"Children in cities start having eye checkups at age 3. However, for some kids here, it was the first time they had taken an eye examination," Li said.

Zhu Jiacong, secretary-general of the Essilor Vision Foundation, recalled the case of one girl who was found to have amblyopia, a condition in which one eye is unable to focus as clearly as the other.

After the condition was detected, the girl's teacher said he finally understood why she often appeared to be taking a nap at her desk during classes and the standard of her school work had declined in recent months.