China steps up efforts to protect eye health of young people

BEIJING -- None of the over 500 students at a rural boarding school in Wantang, a remote place nestled in the mountainous region of southwest China's Yunnan Province, wear glasses.

Over the years, the school located in the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture has achieved a remarkable feat of maintaining a zero rate of nearsightedness among its students, sparking curiosity in a country where myopia among juveniles is a big concern for many parents.

The latest official statistics show that 51.9 percent of Chinese children and adolescents suffer from nearsightedness despite a slight decline in recent years.

China is stepping up efforts to address the prevalence of myopia among children and adolescents, with the aim of achieving its targets by 2030. These targets include maintaining the myopia rate among six-year-old children at approximately 3 percent and keeping the rates for primary school students, junior high school students and high school students below 38 percent, 60 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

According to ophthalmologists, most newborns are born with farsightedness. However, this condition typically diminishes to zero degrees as they age and the degree of farsightedness during this diminishing phase is known as hyperopia reserve.

The hyperopia reserve is similar to a fixed deposit in a bank, where each expenditure gradually reduces the balance, and no additional funds can be added. Research findings have indicated that early depletion of the hyperopia reserve may increase the likelihood of developing myopia.

The findings from a comparative study on the occurrence of myopia among children in the United Kingdom, the United States, and China also suggest that the early depletion of hyperopia reserve among children aged six to 12 is a key factor contributing to the rapid escalation of China's myopia prevalence.

Monitoring hyperopia reserve has been emphasized by health authorities as a pivotal measure for the prevention of early myopia.

China has made efforts to standardize eye care and vision examinations for children under the age of six, and hyperopia reserve examinations will be conducted at 24 months, 36 months, and at four, five and six years old, according to Shen Haiping, deputy head of the maternal and child health department of the National Health Commission (NHC).

Currently, the coverage of eye health care and vision examinations for children aged under six has reached 95.1 percent nationwide, said Shen at a press conference in May.

Pointing out that nearsightedness has become a major public health issue affecting the eye health of Chinese people, especially children and adolescents, the NHC also released an updated guideline on myopia prevention in early June, six years after the previous edition was released.

Parents are also making efforts to contribute to safeguarding the hyperopia reserve. On social media platform Xiaohongshu, a simple search for "hyperopia reserve" yields over 70,000 results.

Many of the posts are from young parents sharing their experiences of taking their children for hyperopia reserve examinations, along with insights on how to protect their kids' eyes.

A Shanghai mother said the awareness activities at her children's school have equipped her with a basic knowledge of hyperopia reserve.

"The school organizes regular eye examinations each year and invites ophthalmologists to raise awareness about healthy eye habits," said the mother surnamed Liu.

In addition to healthy eye habits, it is widely acknowledged that promoting outdoor activities is a cost-effective approach to protecting hyperopia reserve.

Wang Ningli, a renowned ophthalmologist, noted that to better prevent nearsightedness among young kids, outdoor activity time should not be less than two hours per day.

The zero-myopia boarding school in Wantang serves as a prime example. One of its "secret weapons" for combating poor eyesight among students is three hours of outdoor activities daily.

Here, on-campus playtime, physical education classes, the 10-minute breaks between classes and extracurricular activities are all integral parts of the school day.

By adopting the successful practices of Wantang, a primary school in the same prefecture witnessed a significant reduction in the rate of myopia among its students between 2020 and 2023, plummeting from 42.5 percent to 13.8 percent.

To ensure children's outdoor activity time, the Ministry of Education, together with three other departments, issued a circular this March, requiring a 30-minute break each school day dedicated to physical activities in primary and middle schools.

Additionally, to provide a better environment for outdoor activities, child-friendly transformations of public spaces are underway in multiple cities, including Guangzhou, Nanning and Harbin. The efforts include building more venues such as basketball and badminton courts, as well as community-based children centers.

Ma Shengce, a primary school student in Guangzhou, is delighted at discovering a larger space and an increasing number of facilities to play near home.

"Now, I can enjoy climbing and sliding right after school, which adds excitement to my daily routine," Ma said.