Light O'Clock (Season 3)

Episode 3: Blurred vision – The myopia epidemic and indoor lifestyles

Host: Carolina Guidolin | Guest: Ray Najjar

DOI: 10.17617/b98p-9565 | License: CC-BY

Today, more and more children around the world are developing myopia, or nearsightedness — especially in East Asia, where prevalence among school-aged children can reach up to 70%.

Can simply spending more time outside in daylight help protect children from developing myopia?

In this episode, our guest Asst. Prof. Raymond P. Najjar (National University of Singapore) breaks down:

• What we know about the link between light exposure and myopia in children

• Why kids aren’t spending enough time outdoors (and no — it’s not just because of tablets!)

• How we might be able to rethink indoor lighting in schools to better support healthy visual development

Links and resources related to the episode’s content

• The influence of lifestyle and the environment on myopia: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-024-00354-7

• Outdoor activity reduces the prevalence on myopia in children: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2007.12.019

• Prompting parents to make their kids spend more time outdoor: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2796425

• More info on the LightSPAN project: https://eyenbrain.com/project-lightspan/

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro and questions to kids
(02:37) Guest introduction
(03:30) Understanding myopia: causes and prevalence
(06:58) The role of light and the environment
(11:45) Challenges in increasing outdoor time in kids
(16:27) Improving indoor lighting for myopia control: the LightSPAN project
(23:09) Behavioural interventions with parents
(27:14) Light exposure and myopia control in adults
(29:30) Conclusions
(31:07) Outro with more kids snippets