Increased green space around schools was associated with slowing myopia progression in primary school-aged children, according to researchers in China.1
In a cohort study of 138,735 children from 110 schools in China, the researchers assessed two-year changes in myopia progression in areas with various green space morphology.
The study found those schools with a larger greenness proportion, larger areas of green space, better connectivity between green patches, more aggregated green space, less fragmented green space, and shorter distance between green patches were associated with decreased risk for myopia development.
The schools represented a variety of socioeconomic rankings, with 19.1% in the highest socioeconomic ranking, 47.3% in the moderate socioeconomic ranking, and 33.6% in the low socioeconomic ranking.
Because students spend most of their day in school, the researchers used high-resolution satellite images to assess school campuses and 500 m buffer zones for vegetation index and other landscape metrics.
The average increase in myopia prevalence was 21.2%, and of the 101,897 students who did not have myopia at baseline, 25.8% developed it during follow-up.
A one-unit increase in the myopia-related green space morphology index was associated with a 1.7% decrease in myopia prevalence at the school level and a 9.8% decrease on an individual level. This association persisted after adjusting for outdoor time, screen time, reading time, and parental myopia.
Prospective interventional studies are needed to assess the effects on childhood myopia of the intentional manipulation of green space layouts,” Dr Yahan Yang and colleagues wrote.
Reference
- Yang, Y., Liao, H., Zhao, L., et al., Green space morphology and school myopia in China, JAMA Ophthalmol. 2024;142(2):115–122. DOI: 10.1001/ 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.6015.