A little over 13 per cent of 10,000 schoolchildren studying in government and private schools were found to have myopia or near-sightedness, according to a three-year study conducted by AIIMS and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). This is more than double the prevalence rate observed in a 2001 survey of schoolchildren.

Students from classes I-IX in 20 schools — including nine private and 11 government schools in South and West Delhi — were screened in the study that was recently published in the medical journal Plos One.

Dr Rohit Saxena, associate professor in Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences and the author of the study, said, “We found that myopia was especially high in students studying in private schools, even though the time spent in both government and private schools was almost similar. This was possibly because they spend more time in nearsighted activities — reading, attending tuition after school, or on computers, mobile phones and TV — as they belong to a higher socio-economic status.”

Doctors said of those diagnosed with vision problems, only 24.7 per cent were found wearing appropriate spectacles. In private schools 27.8 per cent myopic children were wearing spectacles compared to 15.9 per cent in government schools.

“This shows about 75 per cent of the vision problems in this very large group of diagnosed children remains unaddressed,” Dr Saxena said.

The incidence of near-sightedness in children aged between 5-15 was found to be “significantly high”, a trend not observed earlier.

“Previous school-based studies have shown that myopia is always higher in children aged between 10-15 years, particularly after children hit puberty. While we observed a higher rate of myopia in this group, a significant number of the children aged less than 10 years also had vision problems,”Dr Saxena said.

Doctors said there was a co-relation between low participation in outdoor activities and myopia. “We also found that prevalence of myopia was higher in girls who spent more time reading and writing and less time outdoors, when compared to the boys,” Dr Saxena said.

The study also found that myopia was more prevalent in children with a family history of myopia and higher socio-economic status.

“The role played by genetic factors is important. But environmental and social factors, nutrition, and behavioral aspects makes it difficult to prove the influence of genes,” Dr Saxena said.

The last study done in 2001 found that about 7.1 per cent of children screened had vision problems. Doctors also analysed the daily schedule of the child, from questionnaires verified by teachers and parents, to identify behavioural risk factors that could be associated with poor vision.

“In ongoing studies, we are trying to see if changing modifiable factors can help us find a cost-effective means to control vision problems. With the increased use of technology, incidence of myopia is likely to increase in children,” Dr Saxena said.

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