Kids Eyeglasses – Should Kids with Myopia be Constantly Wear Them?

Singapore has one of the highest rates of myopia in the world. Health Promotion Board (HPB) statistics showed that over the past 10 years – at 65% of Primary 6 pupils and 28% of Primary 1 pupils are myopic.

Causes for High Rate of Myopia

Singapore’s high myopia rates is largely due to children here having spend less time outdoors and more time reading, writing and using electronic devices. In addition, myopia is genetic, so children with myopic parents have a higher chance of being short-sighted as well.

Only Wear Glasses when Studying

Many parents, including myself, would want our child to wear glasses only when they are in school, doing their homework and so on. For other times of the day, we would encourage them, as much as possible, not to put on the glasses. We think that this will prevent or slow down the development of myopia. THIS IS WRONG!

Wearing spectacles is NOT the cause of myopia. Wearing glasses corrects the vision and does not cause myopia to worsen. It in fact, prevents myopia from getting worse.

If your child is already myopic and he does not wear glasses most of the time, he will constantly be seeing blurred vision. His eyeballs will progressively get lengthened and this process is irreversible. This puts them at a higher risk of having other eye problems such as cataracts, retinal detachments, or even blindness later on in life.

Regular Wearing of Glasses is the Best

If your child needs to wear glasses, please ensure they wear it religiously. Do not only wear it during studies. This ultimately helps to put a check on the speed of deterioration.