Setting sights on a clearer future: Navigating the challenges of childhood Myopia

 

August is National Eye Health Awareness Month, and Cardinal Santos Medical Center (CSMC) is shining a focus on pediatric myopia, which has arisen as a major public health concern.

Myopia is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a refractive error in which light rays entering the eye parallel to the optic axis are brought to focus in front of the retina, resulting in blurred images.

I am myopic myself which means I am as blind as a bat or nearsighted. So I can relate well to this issue and I'm sure most of you will also be able to feel the same way especially if you're in your 40's. You see, when one gets older, we become nearsighted. 

 Dr. Kimberly Cotaoco, a Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus expert at Cardinal Santos, explains it as seeing close items clearly but distant objects fuzzy.

While myopia affects both adults and children, she emphasizes the importance of being diagnosed at an early age. “Due to their highly developing eyes, the progression of myopia in children can lead to long-term consequences such as lazy eye, strabismus, and a range of ocular diseases.”

Childhood myopia is becoming more common, impacting 85-90% of young people in some Asian countries. Dr. Cotaoco emphasizes the importance of genetics and environmental variables in the development of myopia. that children with myopic parents are more likely to develop it themselves. She also cites early gadget exposure, decreased outdoor time, and increasingly exacting academic expectations for children as contributors.