Short-sighted view on sports

5 October 2009

Scientists studying children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children found that short-sighted children were less physically active than those without short-sightedness.

In the study, researchers studied the short-sightedness of nearly 5000 children aged 10, and fitted the same children with accelerometers to measure their physical activity at age 12.

Short-sighted children had lower total activity, lower levels of moderate-to-vigorous activity and were more sedentary than those without short-sightedness.

Although short-sighted children may be reluctant to join in with vigorous activities if they wear glasses, adjusting for glasses wearing in this study made little difference to the results, indicating that other factors may be responsible.

The authors suggest that interventions targeted at short-sighted children are required, to make them aware of the risks of low physical activity, particularly as there is evidence that childhood behaviours can be carried into adulthood.

Image: Sports balls. Credit: Michael Flippo/iStockphoto

Reference

Deere K et al. Myopia and later physical activity in adolescence: a prospective study. Br J Sports Med 2009;43:542–44.