Half of us will suffer with short sightedness by 2050

Studies reveal that by 2050, around half the planet will need glasses to correct eyesight.

 

Short sightedness caused by insufficient time spent outdoors, and the extended use of tablets, mobile devices and computer screens has been researched and published on the Ophthalmology Journal. 

 

Currently, 34% of people around the globe suffer with short sight, and research predicts that 49.8 percent will require glasses by 2050.  In 2010, 2 billion people (roughly 28 percent) suffered from myopia, or better known as short sightedness, hence technology is or will be almost doubling the number of short sighted people within the current century. 

 

Researchers say that “The changes “are widely considered to be driven by environmental factors,”

 

“Principally lifestyle changes resulting from a combination of decreased time outdoors and increased near-work activities,” (or in other words, the time you use to look at a screen). 

 

1st world countries with larges segments of the population living with high income brackets are more likely to suffer from myopia , as these individuals spends most of their using LCD/LED based  technology. 

 

Studies show that British youth are now twice as likely to suffer from myopia compared to the 1960s, which means that 16.4 per cent of British children now suffer with short-sightedness compared with 7.2 per cent in the 1960s.

 

It is still yet to be proven whether screen time is actually making our eyesight worse. Scientists at Ohio State University found gazing at a PC screen for hours “does not cause short-sightedness”. The 20 year study, which concluded in April 2015, found “no association” between screen time and eyesight problems using a sample of 4 500 children.

 

Near work has been thought to be a cause of myopia, or at least a risk factor, for more than 100 years,” said Karla Zadnik, dean of the College of Optometry at Ohio State University and lead author of the April study. “In this large dataset from an ethnically representative sample of children, we found no association.”

 

Although both studies contradict each other, a common finding was that children who spend more time out doors are less likely to suffer from myopia, but it is unknown what causes the protective effect  and if its associated to extended screen time.