3 ms·

I must confess that I haven't read the whole site, but there doesn't seem to be any mention of the possible effect on the child's eyesight. There is probably so

by J-dawg 11y ago

I must confess that I haven't read the whole site, but there doesn't seem to be any mention of the possible effect on the child's eyesight. There is probably some causative link between the amount of close work you do and your chance of developing myopia. As someone with myopia myself, I know there's already a genetic risk. I'm not sure whether I'd want to exacerbate that risk by pushing the child to do lots of close work from a very young age. Getting a kid into adulthood with perfect or near-perfect eyesight could well be a greater gift than helping them be an academic superstar. But who knows? When you have kids, do you lie awake at night thinking about this stuff? I guess if this thread is teaching me anything, it's that my indecisiveness would make me a pretty terrible parent.

tren 11y ago
Myopia has recently been linked with the amount of time you spend outside, irrespective of how much close work you do: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236638275_Time_outdoors_and_the_prevention_of_MYOPIA https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236638275_Time_outd....
- J-dawg 11y ago
  I've read this too, I guess I'm still a little sceptical based on my own sample of one. When I was a child I spent loads of time outside, but also loads of time on the computer. I guess the computer won. I also don't understand how they separated out "doing close work" from "being indoors". You'd need a control group of kids who spent a lot of time indoors WITHOUT doing much close work. So what would they be doing instead? Even if you're not reading, surely all indoor activities involve somewhat close work. Watching TV or playing console games might not have met the researcher's definition of close work, but they still involve focusing ones eyes at a point closer than infinity.
endymi0n 11y ago
I could read with 3 and I have had (mild) hyperopia as long as I can think. YMMV. Realistically, these conditions are derived from eye shape, so I don't think reading early has anything to do with this. If you have some evidence, I'd be interested though.
hawkice 11y ago
> Getting a kid into adulthood with perfect or near-perfect eyesight could well be a greater gift than helping them be an academic superstar. Isn't there a widely available patch for low-$X00, and a permanent fix in adulthood for not much more than that? People spend 100x that much money on e.g. private schools, which are only a partial attempt to get closer to academic superstardom, not a 100% effective way to get perfect, like the treatments for myopia.
- J-dawg 11y ago
  I don't think myopia is something to be trivialised. As a shy teenager I hated wearing glasses. Contacts aren't for everyone, and if by permanent fix you mean LASIK then well, you're braver than me.

by J-dawg 11y ago

tren 11y ago

Myopia has recently been linked with the amount of time you spend outside, irrespective of how much close work you do: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236638275_Time_outdoors_and_the_prevention_of_MYOPIA https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236638275_Time_outd....

J-dawg 11y ago
I've read this too, I guess I'm still a little sceptical based on my own sample of one. When I was a child I spent loads of time outside, but also loads of time on the computer. I guess the computer won. I also don't understand how they separated out "doing close work" from "being indoors". You'd need a control group of kids who spent a lot of time indoors WITHOUT doing much close work. So what would they be doing instead? Even if you're not reading, surely all indoor activities involve somewhat close work. Watching TV or playing console games might not have met the researcher's definition of close work, but they still involve focusing ones eyes at a point closer than infinity.

endymi0n 11y ago

I could read with 3 and I have had (mild) hyperopia as long as I can think. YMMV. Realistically, these conditions are derived from eye shape, so I don't think reading early has anything to do with this. If you have some evidence, I'd be interested though.

hawkice 11y ago

> Getting a kid into adulthood with perfect or near-perfect eyesight could well be a greater gift than helping them be an academic superstar. Isn't there a widely available patch for low-$X00, and a permanent fix in adulthood for not much more than that? People spend 100x that much money on e.g. private schools, which are only a partial attempt to get closer to academic superstardom, not a 100% effective way to get perfect, like the treatments for myopia.

J-dawg 11y ago
I don't think myopia is something to be trivialised. As a shy teenager I hated wearing glasses. Contacts aren't for everyone, and if by permanent fix you mean LASIK then well, you're braver than me.