Better eyesight for kids? Let them go out and play

Jessica Jaganathan, Straits Times, 25 Mar 08

STUDIES have shown that children who spend time outdoors have better eyesight than their computer-obsessed counterparts.

With that in mind, the government-run Health Promotion Board (HPB) has launched a new programme designed to detach children from video games and the television.

During this year's Eye Care Week, which began yesterday, HPB is organising a slew of outdoor activities for about 4,000 children aged four to six.

Held next to the Singapore General Hospital, the activities are aimed at promoting good vision among children.

Preschoolers planted sunflower seeds in mini-flower pots, each bearing an eye-care message. They also played games that highlighted the outdoors as a fun alternative to computer games and television.

'We feel that organising games and activities will make it more interesting for the children,' said MrsCheong-Lim Lee Yee, deputy director of the preschool and primary school outreach department at the HPB.

Six-year-old Rachel Leow from kindergarten PCF Punggol South was happy to take part in the activities with her classmates.

When asked what she learnt,

she said: 'We cannot play too much Game Boy or sit too close to the television.'

Data from studies in 2001 and 2004 found Chinese children in Singapore who spent much of their spare time indoors were more than four times more likely to develop myopia than kids from Sydney who went outside regularly.