Regional Myopia Rates May Vary Due to Cultural Differences Toward Academic Pressure

The Finnish model of education emphasizes play-based learning and relies less heavily on homework, factors that these authors point to as potentially protective against rampant myopia development among children there. Photo: Getty Images. Click image to enlarge. It is not a new idea that near work impacts children in terms of developing nearsightedness. However, recent research conducted in Finland makes the argument that, more broadly, different cultural norms regarding academic pressure and the resultant near proximity work is in part responsible for rising rates of myopia seen in parts of Asia, which they did not find to be the case in their study.The investigators wanted to elucidate the prevalence of myopia among Finnish conscripts as well as identify risk factors. Included were a total of 1,694 military personnel (mean age 19.3), of which 1,522 underwent tropicamide-induced cycloplegia; final analyses included 1,286 male conscripts who completed the Finnish schooling system.It was found that overall myopia prevalence was 23.5%, with a small 0.4% of these having high myopia (spherical equivalent ≤-6.00D). The factors most closely affecting myopia presence were basic schooling vs. higher education, near work time and time spent outdoors, with adjusted odds ratios of 1.26, 1.18 and 0.82, respectively. Interestingly, only among the higher-educated group was increased smartphone use linked with higher myopia prevalence; no association could be established in other education groups. Compared with many reports from East and Southeast Asian countries, the rate of myopia here was relatively low and high myopia was rare.More broadly, the authors of the paper relay that this data indicates myopia among young Finnish male conscripts has not increased in rate over the past two decades when compared with a study conducted in 2003; this is notably at odds with other parts of the world that report increasing myopia rates—especially high myopia—with South Korean and Taiwanese studies findings rates of high myopia reaching 21%. The World Health Organization projected myopia to affect 27% of people in 2010 and expects it to rise to about 52% by 2050, prompting the researchers to wonder why these rates are somewhat lower.As they hypothesize, the investigators of the study believe this discrepancy may be due to contrast of academic cultures. As they explain, “these findings strongly suggest that regional differences in myopia prevalence are primarily related to differences in the amount of near work and outdoor activities. Key contributing factors include earlier school entry, more intense academic pressure and greater use of private supplementary tutoring,” the authors relay in reference to Asian countries. Conversely, they mention how Finland emphasizes play-based preschool, limited homework in early school years, frequent outdoor breaks and lower educational intensity in early school years.When considering these findings in terms of international relevance, the authors suggest that “from a public health perspective, efforts to ease excessive near work and promote outdoor activities, particularly during early school years, may be beneficial in reducing the risk of myopia.”Click here for the journal source. Pärssinen O, Franssila ML, Nordhausen K, et al. The prevalence of myopia in Finnish conscripts has not increased in recent decades and is lower than in many East and Southeast Asian countries. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2025;66(12):10. 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.