Myopia prevention — from evidence to practice

The worldwide prevalence of myopia is expected to increase from 1.4 billion people at present to 4.7 billion people by 2050. More alarming is the suggestion from a recent meta-analysis that the prevalence of high myopia will increase by more than 300% to approximately 938 million people by 2050. Myopic retinopathy has become a leading cause of blindness worldwide.Previous schools of thought attributed the cause of myopia to genetics, although it is clear now that this cannot explain the increasing prevalence to epidemic levels, particularly in East Asian populations, over the past decades. We are increasingly recognizing the impact of environmental and behavioral contributions to myopia development. Risk factors include increased time spent reading or studying and, more recently, reduced outdoor time and perhaps light exposure. The onset and development of myopia are explained in part by a genetic predisposition and in part by susceptibility to environmental risk factors.