Childhood Myopia

What causes childhood myopia?

Childhood myopia arises from excessive growth and elongation of the eyeball. This results in light rays from distant objects focusing in front of the retina instead of on the retina. Distant objects are thus seen to be blurred but near objects remain clear.

What are the risk factors?

The exact cause of myopia is not known, but certain risk factors increase the likelihood of myopia, such as:

• Genetic. Myopia tends to run in families. If one parent is myopic, the risk of the child developing the condition is twice higher. The risk is eight times higher if both parents are myopic. The increased severity of parental myopia leads to a greater risk of myopia.


• Environmental. Lack of outdoor activities and excessive near work like reading, playing games on handheld electronic devices or computers increases the risk of developing myopia.