More than half of young Chinese students myopic

 Zenawdu Hasayn, an official with the Disease Control Department of the National Health Commission (NHC), China, on Tuesday, said that more than half of young Chinese students suffer from short sightedness.

He said the prevalence of myopia or nearsightedness among Chinese preschoolers and young students was 52.7 percent in 2020.

According to him, there’s a rise of 2.5 per cent points from 2019, but still 0.9 percentage points lower than 2018.

“The rise in myopia rate may be attributed to reduced outdoor activities due to the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.

“China conducted a nationwide survey from September to December 2020 covering more than 2.47 million students from 8,604 schools across the country.’’ Hasayn said.

He added that myopia is a prominent problem among young kids and its prevalence among primary school students rose relatively faster.

However, progression into high myopia among the students has slowed by 0.5 percentage in 2020 than in 2018, he added.

Shen Haiping, another NHC official, said the government attaches great importance to youngsters’ eye health.

“The country has included eye care and vision tests for children aged six and below in national public health services with a coverage rate of 91.8 percent in 2020.

“Students and children are also advised to reduce close-range work, increase outdoor activity hours and have their eyes examined during the upcoming summer vacation,’’ he said.