Myopia at 4 years old

Never did I expect to find out that Justin has slight myopia (short-sightedness) during his recent trip to the eye doctor. At a tender age of 4!! (*Sniff. Sniff*)

His myopia is now 100 degrees (Right) and 75 degrees (Left) with astigmatism. I am worried. When myopia starts, it usually increases by -1.00 dioptre (100 degrees) or more yearly. This only stabilises during the later teen or adult years. Now he is 4 years, let's assume it stabilises by Primary 6, so his degree will be 800 when he is 12 years old. Arghhh!!! This is freaking me out.

I didn't wear glasses till I was Primary 3 but luckily it stabilised by Primary 6. So my degree is now about 350. I think Desmond didn't start so young as well. My poor son!

Some people might think - aiyah, now so common, at least half of the students in school are wearing glasses. Never mind one lah! Anyway, next time can do Lasik surgery to correct his eye-sight what!

Then I read in an article, "One in four of our 6 yr old kindergarten children are myopic today compared to one in eight in 1996. By the time our children reach 9, two out of five P3 students are near-sighted. At age twelve, over half of the students are myopic. By the time they enter college, over 80% will need to wear glasses."

There are a myriad of reasons why myopia exists, including genetic reasons where it tends to run in the family. Both of us are short-sighted, so I don't expect him to have perfect eye-sight. But he is only 4 years old!! Sigh!

Obviously, I don't think myopia should be taken lightly. Especially for Justin. From now onwards, I will have to be even more cautious, in his reading habits and television time, so as to delay the progression of his myopia.

Vision is very important. To all parents, please practice good vision habits. Prevention (or delay in the onset of myopia) is better than cure.