The best thing you can do to help your child’s vision is also the simplest and cost-free – get outside!

Research shows that for every extra hour a child spends outdoors, the risk of myopia goes down by 10 per cent.

Angeline Goh, for one, makes sure her highly myopic 11-year-old gets 90 minutes of soccer, badminton, swimming or cycling a day. It wasn’t a reaction to the study, but a lifestyle choice made two years ago.

Get up and get out
Angeline’s mindset change is something Dr Audrey Chia backs. The consultant ophthalmologist at the Singapore National Eye Centre and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital often sees parents panic when told their child is myopic.

“They always ask if there is something they can do that can really help. Yes, and it is one of the simplest things,” she says. Get your child to spend one to two hours a day outdoors.

It may not boil down to the sporting activity but rather the exposure to outdoor light. Myopia is caused by excessive eye growth. Intense outdoor light causes the retina to release a substance that inhibits eye growth and may therefore slow down myopia.

When outdoors, the pupils constrict, which increases the visual depth of field or the distance at which objects can be clearly seen.

With kids, it’s often a case of monkey see, monkey do, so she encourages parents to lead by example. Part of the problem of myopia being caused by genes and the environment is that shortsighted parents are more likely to be sedentary, choosing to stay indoors to read or watch TV. Children living in this shared environment are naturally shaped to do the same.

Parents often seek Dr Chia’s advice on alternative treatments that purport to help myopia, mainly eye-relaxing machines, pinhole glasses, progressive spectacles and even supplements.

“View scientific results with eyes wide open. The company that sells the product will naturally tell you about the successes and not the failures,” she cautions.

A good scientific study should follow at least 100 subjects over a two-year period. It should also be double blind, where neither subjects nor researchers know what treatment the patient is receiving until the end of the study.

Get a copy of the July 2009 issue of Young Parents  for expert advice and local tips to make you a better mum or dad. Young Parents, published by SPH Magazines, is available at all newsstands now.

Check out more stories at Young Parents online, www.youngparents.com.sg.