Posted on 08/31/2025 8:28:00 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, found predominantly in fish oils, may help ward off the development of shortsightedness (myopia) in children, while a high intake of saturated fats, found in foods such as butter, palm oil, and red meat, may boost the risk of the condition, finds research.
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs), which can only be obtained from the diet, are thought to improve/prevent several chronic eye conditions.
The researchers drew on 1,005 Chinese 6–8-year-olds, randomly recruited from the population-based Hong Kong Children Eye Study.
In all, around a quarter of the children (276; 27.5%) had myopia. Higher dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids was associated with a lower risk of the condition.
Axial length—measurement of the eye from the cornea at the front to the retina at the back, and an indicator of myopia progression—was longest in the 25% of children with the lowest dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids, after accounting for influential factors.
It was shortest in the 25% of children with the highest dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids.
Similarly, cycloplegic spherical equivalent (SE), which measures refractive error, such as the degree of shortsightedness, was highest in those with the lowest omega-3 fatty acid intake and lowest in those with the highest intake.
But these findings were reversed for the 25% of children with the highest saturated fat intake, compared with the 25% of those with the lowest. None of the other nutrients were associated with either measure or myopia.
Omega-3 fatty acids may suppress myopia by increasing blood flow through the choroid, a vascular layer in the eye, responsible for delivering nutrients and oxygen, and so staving off scleral hypoxia—oxygen deficiency in the white of the eye and a key factor in the development of shortsightedness, they suggest.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
This was an observational study, but the advice seems prudent.
I think only conservatism can do that.
Hong Kong is also home to the study which showed that excessive reading increased the risk of myopia. The risk was alleviated by having the kids play outside for a few hours every day.
Given the complex characters of Cantonese Chinese, I can believe that.
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