Wuhan school puts distance between students and myopia_美文

Wuhan school puts distance between students and myopia

"During our research into myopia, we noticed that the number of pupils reporting symptoms was increasing. This is because parents are teaching their children to read and write at a very early age without paying enough attention to their reading posture."

A Ministry of Education survey in 2010 found that 40.9 percent of primary school students aged between 7 to 12 reported some form of myopia. This figure represented a 9.22-percent increase from 2005.

Feng Junying, a doctor at Beijing Jingshan School, said that during eye tests for second-grade students in 2013, about 33.3 percent were found to suffer from myopia.

"I think the new equipment in Wuhan will certainly be helpful," she said. "But bad reading habits at school are not the only reason for myopia. As far as I know, children are using cell phones and iPads even when they are at kindergarten age, which can be a key factor for myopia at a young age."

Zhang said the new desks have already improved the pupils' posture but she said both teachers and pupils might need more time to get used to them.

Zhang said some pupils found reading with a steel bar in front of them uncomfortable.

Yang, from the eyecare center, said it usually takes at least two months for children at the age of 6, sitting at the desks, to form the correct reading habits.