The prevalence of myopia is high throughout East Asia, with 80-90% of 18-year-olds in urban Singapore, Korea and Taiwan being nearsighted. A 2012 study of 15,000 Beijing children found that low vision was significantly associated with more time spent studying, reading, using electronic devices and less time outdoors. Professor Guo Yin of Beijing Tongren Hospital spoke of how this habit is actually more likely to be found in high-income families, where parents are more inclined to keep their children focused on their studies. The trend of declining vision as income and education levels increase is found throughout East Asia. The biggest factor in myopia is the lack of time spent outdoors. Sunlight exposure helps the retina release a chemical that slows the increase in eye axis length, which is the most common cause of myopia. Lack of outdoor activity combined with a lot of close work such as writing and reading can make the problem worse. But if children have enough time outdoors, they can learn what they like and their eyesight should not be affected, according to Professor Ian Morgan of the Australian National University. However, China and other East Asian countries do not value outdoor time. China and Australia have similar rates of myopia among 6-year-olds. Once enrolled in school, Chinese children spend about one hour outdoors each day, while Australian children spend three to four hours outdoors each day. Chinese students typically take a nap after lunch instead of playing outside, and then go home to do more homework than anywhere else in East Asia. The older Chinese children are, the more time they spend indoors, but never because of air pollution. Because myopia is associated with higher incomes and more education, myopia is not yet very common in rural areas of China. One-third of rural elementary school students are nearsighted, compared with nearly half of urban ones, according to the Health and Welfare Commission. Stanford University’s Rural Education Initiative Project found that nearly one in six rural myopic children do not wear glasses, given the expense, poor eye care and the belief that wearing glasses worsens myopia. Project director Scott Rozelle said Stanford, which gives free glasses to thousands of students, found that improving children’s vision had a greater impact on educational achievement than improving nutrition or the quality of instruction. Another study reported that providing students with free eyeglasses had a comparable effect on test score improvement to a year of additional education. Both outdoor activities and free glasses are inexpensive remedies for the growing national problem of myopia. The only thing needed now is to look at the long term: getting kids more involved in the outdoors and seeing more clearly.