Dec 03, 2016 10:42 AM EST By Audri Taylors, UniversityHerald Reporter

Children of older generations used to spend hours outdoors playing, climbing trees, and running around. Today's children are more likely to get stuck inside their houses and this could be harming their sight.

This is not just because of their increased exposure to the screens of their mobile phones and smart devices, but the lack of exposure to natural daylight is what's driving the rates of myopia or short-sightedness especially among the youngsters.

According to the scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the exposure to ultraviolet B can significantly reduce the risk of developing the short-sightedness. This is strongly encouraged most especially during a person's childhood years. Even previous studies suggest that spending an extra 40 minutes in a day exposing in the natural sunlight can improve a child's sight dramatically.

Myopia is becoming a more and more common eye condition all over the world, and is caused by various environmental and genetic factors, but there are ways to reduce its risk.

To follow up on a previous research, Dr. Astrid Fletcher and his team conducted an experiment to identify the connection between UBV and myopia. In the research, they found that an increase with UBV among youngsters between 14 to 19, and adults aged 20 to 39 was linked to the reduced risk of short-sightedness. They also tested Vitamin D supplements but they failed to find any connection.

"The association between UVB, education, and myopia remained even after respective adjustment. This suggests that the high rate of myopia associated with educational attainment is not solely mediated by lack of time outdoors," the authors write.

"As the protective effect of time spent outdoors is increasingly used in clinical interventions, a greater understanding of the mechanisms and life stages at which benefit is conferred is warranted."

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