Unhealthy Dietary Trends Linked to Myopia in Children

Kids prone to eating too much junk food may be increasing their risk of myopia (in addition to systemic health issues), according to this study. Photo: Erik McLean/Unsplash. Click image to enlarge. Given the high interest in mitigating the development of myopia, many scientific articles have highlighted risk factors such as parental refractive error, excess screen time and insufficient outdoor time. To further expand upon the literature, researchers from China conducted a study examining the association between dietary patterns and the risk of myopia in pediatric patients.1The paper, published in Journal of Ophthalmology, centered around data from the Tianjin Child and Adolescent Research of Eye study.2 This large-scale effort, conducted in Tianjin, China, had parents fill out questionnaires about their children’s demographic characteristics, behavior towards homework time, lifestyle and exercise outside, and history of parental myopia. These factors were used to adjust calculations in the latest study on dietary patterns.A similar process to the methods used in the Child and Adolescent Research of Eye study was used to collect information on patients’ diets. Parents filled out food frequency questionnaires, which asked about their children’s frequency of consuming different food groups. These food groups were stratified into three identifiable dietary patterns, as follows: Dietary Pattern A: refined grains, eggs, fruits, red meats, dairy products and leafy vegetablesDietary Pattern B: nuts, tuber vegetables, legumes, whole grains and aquatic products Dietary Pattern C: fried and barbecued foods, fast foods and savory snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages, desserts and sweet snacks and processed meatsResearchers gathered questionnaire data from 24,797 subjects (52.3% male, 47.7% female). However, characteristic reports from girls showed they were more likely to experience nearsightedness compared to boys. Other reported factors associated with myopia included living in a suburban area, attending high school (7th to 12th grade), longer homework time, parental myopia and less outdoor exercise time.Before adjusting calculations to include the above factors, both dietary patterns A and B showed a significantly reduced risk of myopia. Unfortunately, the adjustments made to Dietary Pattern A’s results did not suggest any significance. In contrast, Dietary Pattern B yielded statistically significant results when adjusting for additional risk factors. As for Dietary Pattern C, this group significantly increased the risk of myopia before and after adjusting the results.“The snacks pattern, characterized by fried and barbecued foods, fast foods and savory snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages, desserts and sweet snacks, and processed meats, increased the risk of myopia,” said the researchers in their paper. “Therefore, modifying the dietary patterns could be a potential public health measure against myopia, providing new prospects for primary prevention of myopia.”Speculating on potential mechanisms, the researchers wrote in their paper that “elevated blood glucose levels and abnormal glucose metabolism may affect the polyol and acetylcholine signaling pathways, potentially inducing refractive and axial myopia.”Click here for the journal source. 1. Li T, Yang J, Yan J, et al. Association between dietary patterns and myopia among children and adolescents: a school-based cross-sectional study. J Ophthalmol. February 19, 2026. [Epub ahead of print].2. Li T, Wei R, Du B, et al. Prevalence of myopia among children and adolescents aged 6-16 during COVID-19 pandemic: a large-scale cross-sectional study in Tianjin, China. Br J Ophthalmol 2024;108:6:879-883.This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.