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Light O'Clock Podcast
Season 3 – Episode 3: Blurred vision – The myopia epidemic and indoor lifestyles

Season 3 – Episode 3: Blurred vision – The myopia epidemic and indoor lifestyles

Light O'Clock vor 1 Jahr

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32:59

Podcast

Light O'Clock

30 Episoden

A podcast on light and your body clock

Wissenschaft Gesundheit & Fitness

Podcaster

mspitschan

Today, more and more children around the world are developing
myopia, or nearsightedness — especially in East Asia, where
prevalence among school-aged children can reach up to 70%.

Can simply spending more time outside in daylight help protect
children from developing myopia?

In this episode, our guest Asst. Prof. Raymond P. Najjar
(National University of Singapore) breaks down:

What we know about the link between light exposure and myopia
in children

Why kids aren’t spending enough time outdoors (and no — it’s
not just because of tablets!)

How we might be able to rethink indoor lighting in schools to
better support healthy visual development

Links and resources related to the episode’s
content

The influence of lifestyle and the environment on myopia:
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-024-00354-7

Outdoor activity reduces the prevalence on myopia in
children: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2007.12.019

Prompting parents to make their kids spend more time outdoor:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2796425

More info on the LightSPAN project:
https://eyenbrain.com/project-lightspan/

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro and questions to kids

(02:37) Guest introduction

(03:30) Understanding myopia: causes and prevalence

(06:58) The role of light and the environment

(11:45) Challenges in increasing outdoor time in kids

(16:27) Improving indoor lighting for myopia control: the
LightSPAN project

(23:09) Behavioural interventions with parents

(27:14) Light exposure and myopia control in adults

(29:30) Conclusions

(31:07) Outro with more kids snippets