Children are the flowers of the motherland and the future of the country. 82% of the information from the outside world is transmitted to the brain through the eyes, and the visual function is related to the intellectual and physical development of children. Therefore, in the information age, the protection of vision is especially important. The critical period of vision development starts from preschool infancy, so vision protection should start from preschool children. To protect children’s eyesight, we must start with the development of the eye. From the moment a baby is born, he or she has beautiful “big” eyes. Every newborn baby’s eyes appear larger in proportion to the facial organs, which means that the horizontal diameter of the eye has developed to a considerable extent at birth, while the longitudinal eye axis (i.e., the length of the eye axis in the front-to-back direction) is still quite short. The eye is a camera with the highest automation and the best precision, capturing external objects all the time. The eye with a short eye axis is equivalent to a camera with a negative very close to the lens, so when taking a picture, the object is focused on the negative, and the picture will be unclear, and for the corresponding eye, the object is focused on the macula of the fundus, which is medically called hyperopia. As the body grows taller, the eye axis also grows proportionally, as do the organs, and when the external image is focused on the macula at the base of the eye, it is called orthokeratology. If, in the process of growing taller, the eye axis of the eye increases disproportionately, the external image will fall in front of the macula, which is medically called myopia. Therefore, during the growth of a child, the eye is gradually approaching from farsightedness to orthophoria, while myopia is the result of excessive development of the eye axis during the development of the eye. So, what does astigmatism mean? The eye is supposed to be a sphere with the same curvature in all directions, so that the object image can form a focal point on the macula of the fundus. If the eye is a rugby ball shape, the curvature in one direction is greater than the other direction, so it is impossible for the object image to form a focal point in one focal plane, which is called astigmatism. Myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism are collectively referred to as refractive errors. The table shows the normal range of refractive error and naked eye visual acuity for children of different ages. As the eye develops from a myopic to an orthoptic state, the naked eye visual acuity gradually increases. You may be familiar with the term amblyopia. Amblyopia means that after correcting possible refractive errors through optometry, if the corrected visual acuity does not reach 0.8, it is called amblyopia, and many people treat a bare eye visual acuity of less than 0.8 as amblyopia, which is incorrect. In the process of eye axis development, the rate varies by age. At birth, the length of the eye axis is 16mm measured by ultrasound type A. By the age of 3, it grows to 19.5mm, which is more than one millimeter per year and is called the rapid development period of the eye axis. From age 3 to age 18, it is called the slow development period of the eye axis. This is because the length of the eye axis at age 18 is 23 mm, and the 15-year growth is comparable to the growth before age 3. By understanding the process of eye development, we can scientifically lay out a series of vision protection plans. Young mothers are invited to pay special attention. 1. Establish a refractive development file. Beginning at age 3, go to the hospital ophthalmology department every six months for a dilated eye exam and eye examination. This way, the doctor will not only know the refractive status of the child, but will also be able to detect any other eye diseases that may exist and receive timely treatment. When the refractive state is examined, a series of refractive-related data such as naked and corrected visual acuity, eye axis length, corneal curvature, intraocular pressure, etc. can be obtained, and when possible, height and weight are also recorded. The information is divided into two copies, one for the hospital and one for the family. By analyzing the continuous data, the prevention of refractive error can have a real effect. Nowadays, some regular large optical stores, also employed ophthalmologists, as long as the appropriate medical licensing procedures, you can also go there to dilate the pupil optometry. These complete data are called refractive development files. For example, if a 3-year-old child is found to have +2.00D hyperopia in both eyes and 0.6 naked eye vision after pupil dilation, and wears +2.00D glasses with corrected visual acuity of 0.8, then he has normal eyes and does not need to wear +2.00D hyperopia glasses, otherwise he will be prompted to convert to myopia. If the corrected visual acuity of the right eye is 0.8 and the corrected visual acuity of the left eye is 0.6, then the left eye has amblyopia and must be treated immediately. It is also not necessary to wear +2.00D farsighted glasses for treatment, but only to cover the right eye with a black cloth for more than 3 hours a day, that is, the principle of covering the healthy eye and training the sick eye, forcing the amblyopic eye to carry out visual training, the younger the amblyopic eye the better the treatment effect. If after the dilated eye exam, the hyperopia of both eyes is found to be 3.50D, it means that the person has 1.50D hyperopia, and at this time, a pair of +1.50D hyperopia glasses is sufficient. If the dilated eye exam shows that the hyperopia is only +0.75D, it means that the child’s eyes are developing too fast, and as the body grows taller, the likelihood of myopia is greater, and the prevention and treatment of myopia should start now. 2, should not do too early to do vision development work. Many parents hope that their children will become a dragon and hope that their daughter will become a phoenix, see the advertising: “from childhood to do intellectual development, from childhood to do vision development” campaign, so that the child was born down to tease him to see more colorful things, to promote eye development, the younger the age of vision, the better the person will not get myopia in the future. Excessive close and fine eye use is actually a myopia formation test for children, which is undesirable. Unless after the dilated eye exam, the child is found to have a high degree of hyperopia, then it is necessary to carry out vision training. 3, before the age of 3 years old to pay attention to the baby’s looking posture. If you find that your baby is looking at things with a tilted head or squinting at the head, it means that the naked eye vision may not be good, so go to the hospital eye examination as soon as possible for early diagnosis and treatment. Of course, if you find abnormalities in the eye, such as strabismus, nystagmus or white reflections on the black eye, you should go to the ophthalmology department in time. It has been proven that the rapid developmental period of the eye axis before the age of 3 is a good time to treat many diseases that affect the development of visual function, and the treatment effect is better than the slow developmental period of the eye axis after the age of 3. 4. Avoid bad eye habits. In 1977, there is a famous myopia formation experiment is very illustrative, the specific approach is to sew up the eyelids of one eye of the monkey, so that the eye to look at external objects only a blur of light and dark shadows moving, the object image is very blurred. 6 months later, the eye without sutures for the ortho-optic eye, sutured eyelids of the eye reopened after the myopia. This is because looking at blurred objects is an important factor in the formation of myopia, and this type of myopia is named form deprivation myopia. In 1983, another type of myopia model was successfully tested in young monkeys. In 1983, another type of myopia model was successfully tested in monkeys, in which one of the eyes of the young monkeys wore a -5.00D myopic lens, and the focus of the object image was shifted to the back of the retina. In daily life, incorrect optometry and poor pencil and writing posture can cause the image to shift back and produce this type of myopia. Here we especially appeal to pay attention to the correct pencil grip: the index finger on the pencil above, thumb and middle finger contact, so as to reveal the pencil and pen tip, to ensure a foot from the book to see clearly, if the thumb and index finger contact or even cross, it will block the pencil and pen tip, read and write when you have to tilt the head to the side of the book, so that the object image focus back, resulting in this type of myopia. (Figure 2) Improve and eliminate the above listed bad eye habits, to prevent myopia and stop the development of myopia is very useful. 5. Identify and resist unscientific methods of myopia prevention and treatment. In the early 20th century, the theory of myopia was that over-adjustment caused myopia, but research over the past 30 years has found that only 5% of myopia is caused by over-adjustment, while 95% of myopia is caused by under-adjustment, that is, sluggish and inflexible adjustment. Throughout today’s myopia prevention and treatment devices and drugs, like a walking lamp changed wave after wave, the efficacy of these products has yet to be confirmed by research. There are many myopia health care, treatment products advertised by the treatment mechanism is mainly to relax the regulation, theoretically these products may only be effective for 5% of the high regulation myopia people, and the remaining 95% of myopia people use will make the regulation force more inadequate, disrupting the normal balance of regulation and convergence, not only can not prevent the occurrence of myopia, development, but may cause damage, so be careful in the choice of use. Progressive multifocal glasses are currently used mainly for people with presbyopia (i.e. aging eyes), not myopia. The mechanism of myopia is very complex, and studies have confirmed that over-regulation plays a role in only a small percentage of myopic patients. At best, these myopia control products are effective in a very small number of people and should not be used regardless of the target population. It is extremely irresponsible to use various myopia prevention and treatment devices for commercial purposes and to market them comprehensively and widely. We would also like to ask our readers to recognize this truth and not to be fooled by unscientific advertisements. For myopia prevention and treatment drugs, it has been locked in blockers of acetylcholine receptors (M1 receptors). M1 receptor blockers can stop the excessive growth of the eye, thus stopping the deepening of myopia, and such drugs are in the process of in-depth research. The current clinical use of nitroprusside ophthalmic solution also belongs to a low specificity and low potency M1 receptor blocker, and it is still necessary to develop more efficient M1 receptor blockers. The Ministry of Education has not yet published an authoritative study on the effectiveness of eye exercises, so I hope that the relevant parties will organize a multicenter prospective study. 6. Enhance physical fitness and strengthen outdoor physical activities. In Shanghai Southwest Bittering Middle School, a daily outdoor physical education class to enhance physical fitness has proven to be very effective in stopping the rise of myopia prevalence. Children’s diet should be a combination of meat and vegetables, not picky and taboo. Carotene in carrots is a nutrient needed for eye development, it is fat-soluble and is good for absorption when eaten together with fatty foods. In addition, meat skin, pork claw, beef tendon and sea cucumber are rich in collagen and hydroxyproline, which can strengthen the tissue resistance of the eye wall, and the proper increase in the intake of these foods is good for vision protection.