Research
Prevalence of Myopia in Urban and Rural Children in Mainland China
The purpose of the article was to review literature on the prevalence of myopia in Chinese children living in China.
The study demonstrated the urban–rural differences, indicating that myopia was prevalent among children living in urban areas compared to rural areas in China.
Myopia is one of the most common visual disorders affecting both children and adults.
Uncorrected refractive error imposed a significant burden on Chinese children in terms of social capability and educational achievement.
There was a strong correlation between the increase in myopia and the level of education and urbanization. However, the increase of myopia was also associated with nutrition, other lifestyle changes or even cohort differences.
The study also reported that the increase in the myopia rate among the Taiwanese population was strongly linked with environmental changes.