Education Level Linked to nearsightedness 教育程度與近視有關

In a German study, half of those with a university degree were myopic compared with less than a quarter of folks who quit after high school or secondary school.

Nothing says “overeducated egghead” like a pair of coke-bottle glasses. But even cliches sometimes hit the nerd on the head. Because a new study finds that nearsightedness is linked to the number of years spent in school.

In the past century, the incidence of myopia has been on the rise. So much so that it cannot all be blamed on geeky genes.

A small dog wears pink sunglasses in New York on Sept. 9. 一隻小狗九月九日在紐約戴著太陽眼鏡。 Photo: EPA

照片：歐新社

To nail down the potential environmental influences, researchers focused on the classroom. They gave eye exams to nearly 5,000 German subjects in a project called the Gutenberg Health Study. The researchers found that individuals with 13 years of education were more myopic than those who didn’t get past primary school.

All that learning takes a lot of reading. Which itself is associated with nearsightedness. Or the nearsighted may gravitate toward pursuits easier to see — like hitting the books. Either way, it seems that being a good student may not require great pupils.

(Courtesy of Liberty Times)

德國一項研究指稱，擁有大學學歷的人近一半有戴眼鏡。相較之下，高中或國中學歷的人僅有不到四分之一戴眼鏡。

說起「書呆子」，沒有什麼比一付厚厚的眼鏡更貼切了。但即使是老掉牙的話，有時也一語中的。因為一項新研究發現，近視眼與待在學校時間的長短相關。

一個世紀以來，近視人數明顯增加。這麼多的近視眼，總不能都怪到書呆子基因頭上。

為找出可能的環境影響，研究人員聚焦在教室。他們給五千名參與「古騰堡健康研究」計畫的德國人做視力測驗。研究人員發現，比起那些未完成小學教育的人，受過十三年教育的人有較多的近視眼。

所有的學習都需要大量閱讀，這就可能導致近視。或者，近視眼者可能不自覺習慣以更容易的方式閱讀—像是頭低到觸碰到書本。不管怎樣，似乎要當一個好學生，並不需要有好視力。

（自由時報提供／翻譯：李信漢）