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child myopia
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The risk of myopia in children increases when parents are myopic¹. The risk is nearly…

  • 1 in 2 when both parents are myopic.
  • 1 in 3 when one parent is myopic.
  • 1 in 4 when neither parent is myopic.

what does myopia look like

What does myopia look like?

If you’re curious what myopia looks like through your child’s eyes, find out by using our Myopia Vision Simulator Tool. It shows you what the school classroom, school science lab and the sports hall look like through their eyes.

Myopia Vision Simulator right arrow icon

Myopia facts

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31%

of Australian children have never had an eye test2.

28%

of New Zealand children have never had an eye test3.

Myopia is a common eye health condition which causes blurred distance vision (short-sightedness). Myopia is not just a vision condition. No level of myopia is safe and regular eye tests are critical to its management.

By 2050

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By 2050 it is predicted that more than half of the world’s population will have myopia and 10% will have high myopia4.

44%

44% of Australian children and 40% of New Zealand children have not been to see an optometrist to have an eye test before their ninth birthday5.

Hear from the Experts

Your child’s myopia may depend on what you do now

It has been established that managing myopia in its early stages can help to slow its progression, reducing the potential risk of developing high myopia and its associated conditions later in life6. High myopia is a refractive error of at least -5.00D in either eye. This not only involves correcting the blurred distance vision associated with myopia but also employing management options proven to slow the progression of myopia in children.

The sight-threatening conditions associated with high myopia include myopic maculopathy, retinal detachment, glaucoma and cataracts.

Treating myopia in children doesn’t mean just getting glasses. As research and technological innovations in this area continue, optometrists now have a range of new management options which mean they can not only provide clear vision but slow down the progression of myopia.

As recommended by Optometry Australia and the New Zealand Association of Optometrists, take your child for their first eye test with an optometrist before starting school and at regular intervals thereafter.

1Lim LT, Gong Y, Ah-Kee EY, Xiao G, Zhang X. Impact of parental history of myopia on the development of myopia in mainland China school-aged
children. Ophthalmology and Eye Disease. 2014;6:31-5
2CooperVision Australia and New Zealand: Child Myopia in Australia – consumer perceptions survey. Conducted by YouGovGalaxy August/September 2018.
3Ibid
4 Holden, Brien A. et al. Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology; 123(5):1036 – 1042
5 CooperVision Australia and New Zealand: Child Myopia in Australia – consumer perceptions survey. Conducted by YouGovGalaxy August/September 2018.
6 Sankaridurg PR, Holden BA. Practical applications to modify and control the development of ametropia. Eye 2014; 28:134-141