Child Proof
Another Reason to Send Kids Outside: It’s Good for Their Eyes
One of the lesser-known benefits of playing outdoors is its ability to prevent nearsightedness
It’s hard to argue with the idea that getting kids outside is important for their health. The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages doctors to “write a prescription for play” and says that outdoor play in particular is important for “motor, cognitive, social, and linguistic” skills, as well as exercise. But another important benefit of outdoor play is mostly ignored: what it can do for kids’ eyesight.
Nearsightedness has become more common over the past few decades, both in the United States and elsewhere, and scientists aren’t sure why. But they do know that sending your kid outside can help prevent it.
An eye that’s nearsighted, or myopic, doesn’t grow proportionally. It’s usually elongated, making the eye shaped more like a grape than a marble. This means light no longer lands precisely on the retina, which sits at the back of the eye like film in a camera, but instead focuses in front of the retina. A person with eyes that are stretched like this can still see fine up close, but objects farther away look blurry.
