Sat, Oct 13, 2007 page4

• Twenty percent of youngsters suffer from eye problems

  EARLY DAMAGE Too much television and time on the computer are creating vision problems before children even start school, doctors say

  • STAFF WRITER
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  One-fifth of Taiwanese children suffer from vision problems before they reach the age of six, an eye doctor said at a Bureau of Health conference on Thursday.

  At the press conference organized by the Bureau of Health, Lin Lung-kuang (林隆光), an ophthalmologist with National Taiwan University Hospital, quoted the results of a nationwide survey that found 20 percent of first-graders in the country are myopic (nearsighted) while 61.8 percent of sixth graders suffer from myopia.

  Among the sixth-graders who suffer from myopia, 2.51 percent have severe myopia of more than 600 degrees, Lin said.

  BIGGEST CULPRIT

  Yang Meng-ling (楊孟玲), an eye doctor with Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said television was the No. 1 culprit responsible for damaging the eyesight of the nation's preschool children.

  Saying that Taiwan has the world's highest per capita number of people wearing eye-glasses, Yang urged parents not to allow their children to sit glued to the television set or use computers for long periods. He also urged parents to prevent children under the age of three from using computers at all.

  Many children now suffer from shortsightedness at earlier ages -- even by the age of three or four, and the myopic condition increases by 100 degrees a year, Yang said.

  OUTDOORS

  Wu Pei-chang (吳佩昌), an eye doctor with Kaohsiung's Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, attributed childhood myopia mainly to the exceedingly long periods of time that many preschool children stay indoors and at home.

  Wu suggested that parents take their children outdoors more often so that youngsters will watch less TV and play fewer computer games.

  He said that it is not correct to believe that nearsightedness is an easy problem that can simply be tackled by wearing eyeglasses.

  Wu also said that severe myopia can result in glaucoma or a detached retina. Myopia can also lead to eye neural lesions.

  All of these represent serious medical problems that can damage a person's eyesight for a lifetime.
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