Longer years in formal education cause a deterioration in vision, a new study suggests. UK researchers analysed over 60,000 people between the ages 40-69 and observed a significant link between the years spent studying and the strength of their eyesight.
With each year in education, the risk of myopia increases by -0.27 dioptres, the study found. Researchers from the University of Bristol and Cardiff University were able to demonstrate that university graduates with 17 years of education are typically at least −1 dioptre more myopic than those who leave school at age 16 – having spent roughly 11 years in education.
Ties between myopia and education have long been documented but researchers debated whether it was short-sightedness that led people to become more bookish, as they turned away from more physically-intensive disciples, or the other way round.
The UK study says findings provide “strong evidence” that longer education poses a risk factor for myopia, and “have important implications for educational practices”. The results lead researchers to recommend more outdoors time and less book time for school children.
Specialists that spoke to the press after the publication of the study drew parallels to experience in East Asia, where the balance is heavily tipped towards schooling over playtime. Half of the children in the region develop short-sightedness by the time they leave primary school.
Dr Denize Atan, one of the authors of the study, said that the research findings support a radically different approach to education: “Given the advantages of time spent outdoors on mental health and the protection it provides against obesity and chronic diseases, we might all benefit from spending more time outside.”
Dispatch based on reports in The Telegraph
