60 percent of Shanghai students nearsighted

Shanghai: Nearly 60 percent of primary and middle school students in
China's Shanghai city suffer from nearsightedness, a media report
said.

Among senior high students, 86 percent are shortsighted, and the
numbers are 70 percent and 38 percent among students at junior high
and elementary schools, China Daily reported quoting the Shanghai
Evening Post.

Excessive schoolwork and frequent contact with electronic screens were
the main causes for the high incidence of myopia among teenagers, the
Post said Wednesday quoting a survey by the Shanghai Municipal Centre
for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010.

The increase in myopia occurs during the transition periods between
schools, as the number of nearsighted students grew more than 10
percent from the third year of junior high to the first year of senior
high, it said.

The survey also found that middle school students in Shanghai spend
2.8 hours a day using electronic products with screens, and four hours
on weekends, which is much longer than the suggested two hours by the
American Academy of Pediatrics, said the report. IANS