China’s myopia epidemic: why a simple solution is being ignored

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“Myopia rates have shot up in the last two decades,” Shanghai ophthalmologist Xu Xun says, as we speak in a conference room at the treatment centre. “According to our statistics, between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of primary school pupils start classes with myopia. Then the percentage rises to up to 50 per cent for secondary school students. In university, 90 per cent are short-sighted.”

The growing prevalence of myopia is not only a Chinese problem, but it is an especially East Asian one. According to a study published in The Lancet medical journal in 2012, by Ian Morgan, of the Australian National University, South Korea leads the pack, with 96 per cent of young adults (below the age 20) having myopia; and the rate for Seoul is even higher. In Taiwan, 85 per cent of young adults are myopic, according to the study, and in Singapore, the figure is 82 per cent.

But why are Asian children particularly prone to myopia? Although the question tends to create a heated discussion among doctors, Xu doesn’t hesitate when answering.

“First of all, it’s not genetic. We’ve done many studies and that is something we are sure of.

“It’s a quite recent phenomenon. In the 1960s, only 20 per cent of the Chinese population was short-sighted. We can argue checks were not so common at that time, but the gap is still large. And genetic changes take much longer to shape. Plus, myopia is mostly prevalent in urban areas, while the rates in the countryside are noticeably lower.”

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