In the U.S., the prevalence of myopia is about 25 percent of the
population, but in Asian countries such as China or Japan it may exceed
70 percent, and it approximates 90 percent in selected populations,
such as Chinese university students.

Short-sightedness is common in many areas, but it is enormous in such
countries as Singapore. By 18 years of age, 80 per cent of local people
have short-sightedness, 30 years ago there were only 25% of such
people. The police has lack of people with normal eye-sight, in
addition, too many people have too high short-sightedness, they can
become blind because of it.

According to another research, 80 percent of 14-18 year-old male
students in Israel high school majoring in religion, suffer from
myopia.  Meanwhile, in the state schools, only 30 percent of young
Israelis have myopia. So, the lifestyle should be blamed for this
disease spreading.

As lifestyle changes, myopia is growing. Currently, half of 12-year-old
Swedish schoolchildren suffer from short-sightedness. When they turn
18, there may be 70% short-sighted among them, NTR.ru reports.

Dear Feathered One,

          MYOPIA PREVALENCE IS ALWAYS HIGHER THAN 90 PERCENT
                    FOR TAIWAN MEDICAL STUDENTS

Re: Changes in ocular refraction and its components
   among medical students - a 5-year longitudinal study", Optom.
   Vis.  Sci., 73:495-498, 1996) found that in a study of 345
   National Taiwan University medical students, the myopia
   prevalence increased from 92.8% to 95.8%!  over the five year
   period.

                      ******************

1)  In Singapore, the vision of 421,116 males between the ages of
   15 and 25 was examined.  In 1974-84, 26.3% were myopic; in
   1987-91, 43.3% were myopic.  Both the prevalence and severity
   of myopia were higher as the level of education increased.
   The prevalence rate was 15.4% in males with no formal
   education and increased steadily through the education levels
   to reach 65.1% among the university graduates in 1987-91.  The
   authors state that their findings confirm indications from
   other sources that the association between the prevalence and
   severity of myopia and education attainment is real (M.T.
   Tay, K.G.  Au Eong, C.Y.  Ng and M.K.  Lim, "Myopia and
   Educational Attainment in 421,116 Young Singaporean Males,"
   Ann Acad Med Singapore, 1992, Nov;21(6):785-91).

2)  Regarding the prevalence of myopia in Asian countries, Lam and
   Goh (Lam, C.S.  and Goh, W.S., "The incidence of refractive
   errors among schoolchildren in Hong Kong in relationship with
   the optical components", Clin.  Exp.  Optom., 74:97-103, 1991)
   found that in 383 school children from ages 6 to 17 years, the
   prevalence of myopia increased from 30% at ages 6-7 years, to
   70% at ages 16-17 years.

3)  Lam and Yap (Lam, C.S.  and Yap, M.  "Ocular dimensions and
   refraction in Chinese Orientals", Proc.  Int.  Soc.  Eye Res.,
   6:121, 1990) found that in a group of optometry students at
   The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the prevalence of myopia
   was 75% in females and 69% in males.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

CRITICAL TRUTH:

4)  Goh and Lam (Goh, W.S.  and Lam, C.S., "Changes in refractive
   trends and optical components of Hong Kong Chinese aged 19-39
   years," Ophthal.  Physiol.  Opt., 14:378-382, 1994) found that
   in 2000 first-year students at the University of Hong Kong,
   the prevalence of myopia was 87.5%.

Enjoy,

Otis