Why so many people need glasses now 

Every Tuesday in March, we’re talking about the human body - subscribe so you don’t miss out! Our first video about the special kind of fat that helps kids stay warm is out now. Watch it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zpcI_g_zrpk.html

I was really near sighted in my early 20s so last year I got laser eye surgery and honestly sometimes I still get emotional about it. My vision ended up even better than 20/20 and I honestly wasn’t prepared for how good it would be. The day after my surgery I woke up and looked out the window and saw the leaves fluttering around on a tree that was blocks away and I just cried. Good vision is such a precious thing.

“Homework causes health problems” is the phrase every school kid wants to hear LOL

As someone who developed myopia at 6 years old and now, at 23 years old, my myopia is -11 and -9.5, this video is both interesting and terrifying.

I wore glasses from the time I was 9 to 24. I'll NEVER forget coming out of that surgery and immediately I could see everything around me with crystal clear clarity

Wait, this suddenly makes the old stereotype that nerds or otherwise smart/bookish people wear glasses make sense. Someone who spent all their time reading and studying as a kid would be more prone to myopia and thus need glasses, and that's why people circa the 1950's started associating glasses-wearing with things like book-smarts and introversion, i.e. "nerd" traits.

I would've spent more time outdoors as a kid if my parents weren't so overprotective in my childhood

As someone who’s dealt with myopia my entire life (currently -8.5), I can’t imagine not being nearsighted and am so jealous of people with normal or almost normal vision (prescriptions between -3 to +3).

I'm 42 years old and have always spent most of my time indoors with tv and video games and my vision is still at least 20/20. Both of my parents started wearing glasses when they were younger than I am now. I consider myself extremely lucky at this point as nearly everyone I know who is my age and older needs their vision corrected somehow.

I spent 75% of my childhood outdoors, and my vision was 20/20. In high school I started spending more time indoors, doing my homework/studying on a laptop. Within 2 years of being in high school, I needed glasses.

Australian optometrist here. Mark Bullimore is a big dog in the field, so you definitely found the right guy to interview. Very well explained and of course some simplifications but much less errors/myths than other videos on the subject.

I'm high myopic (-7.00/-7.50) and I spent a good deal of time outdoors as a child. And it doesn't seem to come down to my genetics as no one else in my family has such a significant need for vision correction. I used to work as an optician and I have to say that a policy is in place in most commercial optical shops to put glasses on every face that walks in the door. I think that in the past some people with moderate myopia were simply unaware of how bad their vision actually was but the prevalence of big optical chains and cheaper glasses has skewed the numbers a little. Off topic, but anyone interested should look into the mark-up that optical shops place on materials. Those $300 glasses on your face probably cost around $20 wholesale, often less than that. And those coatings and "UV filters" added are pennies if they even exist at all.

(19y) I spent the entire covid period and this winter indoors mostly at the computer, I developed weak myopia, but by spending more hours outside, especially at vantage points where you can look into the distance, my vision improved so much that it is almost unrecognizable from a healthy eye . if it is caught in the beginning, it can probably be corrected by changing the lifestyle.

Vox never ceases to amaze me as to how they can cram in useful and important information in such a short little video .

Kudos for not trying to blame it all on recreational screen-time. The parents I know who fret about screen-time… the sedentary aspects, the indoor aspects…. I’ve never heard them complain about kids sitting at school, reading books indoors, playing board games indoors, etc.

Glad to hear there’s hope for those who start to develop myopia, and those who have not. For the unfortunate ones with myopia bless their souls.

That’s interesting since my eye sight really got worse when I moved to a colder climate and didn’t have neighborhood kids to play with like I did when I was in elementary school. I was stuck inside more, and I was attached to technology more than I had been as a kid. Makes total sense now that I have glasses

Optometrist here. Loved how this was packaged and presented! Thanks for bringing exposure to this.

Some of us are “doomed” from the start. I basically lived outside during my childhood and still ride my bicycle to and from work throughout the year. I was diagnosed with myopia as a child and currently sport glasses just shy of -8 for each eye as a 50+ year old. 😢 And great video!

In a recent conversation with my optician, we discussed how it was interested that both of my daughters are also far-sighted like I am, but neither of my sons are. We were given advice similar to this on how to help them not develop myopia: hour+ outside a day, limit 'close work' in the evening and how close they put any books or devices.

This video was very eye-opening and put into perspective and added the science behind a trend that we have seen as a society. We are seeing more and more people wearing glasses or complaining that their eyesight is getting worse as time is passing. What was usually an issue of getting old is now seen in the younger population where you can go up to undergrad students and a lot of them would talk about how their eyesight is getting worse. I like how this video first explains the science behind this trend by explaining that more and more people are experiencing myopia, in which people are having a smaller range of distance of what they can see in front of them. The video concludes that myopia rates are getting higher because we are spending more time doing a task that requires our eyesight to be focused on something too close for an extended amount of time. This can be seen with students who use a computer or book to study for school. Another reason that it was thought to be behind the rise of myopia rates was that we are spending less time outdoors which increases the probability of developing myopia in the future. In the video it was highlighted that some countries like Asia have very high rates of myopia especially the kid population which was attributed to Asia’s emphasis on education and minimize emphasis on being outdoors. When this was mentioned, it made me think about the ethical point of children's autonomy and if it was being respected and thought about in this case. Just because it thought that education should be of the highest importance in a child’s life it is not ethically correct to put that above the health of a child. Just because the children do not have full autonomy there should be a clear understanding of the importance to have the kid's best interest at hand this means seeing children as a whole person that needs to have a good balance between education and just being a child with time for playing around. Another ethical point that this video made me think about is how the healthcare system was helping with this trend of increased myopia especially in underserved populations as getting eyecare and even more so getting glasses can be a financial burden that underserved populations might not have the resources to deal with. It might come down to getting glasses or being able to afford that month's rent. If myopia is becoming a bigger issue the healthcare system needs to find and support more action to help bridge the gap between eyecare in underserved communities.

I remember the day my vision went from 20/20 to slightly near-sighted. I can still see without glasses but there is a slight blur when looking in the distance but nothing serious. I can't say I'm surprised as I spent a lot of time playing games and browsing the internet growing up at the time when technology really took off. While I did play outside as a kid too, I guess it wasn't enough 😅.

No joke, I had better than perfect 20/20 vision when I was a teen and all the way through uni but came out of the pandemic needing glasses. Couldn't leave the house and working from home for 1.5 years. I didn't even notice I needed glasses until I tried someone elses

I had a friend from Taiwan, his dad had bad vision and knew about this so he made him go outside and play sports a lot as a kid - he has 20/20 vision!

I have been myopic all of my life, I love the way that I see and only wear glasses to drive. It means to me to be able to see close up and make good stitches. I have always spent a lot of time outdoors. Birdy

I am a student suffering from myopia in Singapore. Even though the ministry of education has mandated 2 hours of physical lesson every week and has begun encouraging students to go outdoors, I still believe far too less is being done. More than half of my classmates wear glasses now. Myopia is more than an inconvenience. Hopefully all stakeholders can step in and help to prevent it in children and teenagers who do not yet know the seriousness of myopia. Thank you Vox for shining light on this issue!

Imagining lives of people with vision problems in a far past freaks me out I cant live without my glasses

Started wearing glasses at around 9 years old and when I got to 19 my myopia was stabilized at -5 in my one eye and -6 in my other. I could barely see anything without my glasses so I had lasik surgery. I'm now 21 and I can definitely say that life is much easier without glasses

I started wearing glasses when I was 9 and my vision got worse year after year, but it stabilized when I reached 17. For me, the biggest reason was spending too much time on computers and living in a dim environment throughout the day. Nowadays my work Mostly revolves around Computers and Electronic devices and to tackle the same I have taken a couple of steps, the best one is keeping my desktop by the window so that I am constantly focusing afar and getting Natural light. I have grown to value good vision and wish to have the same through LASIK in a couple of months.

When I was 12, I asked my mother to take me to an optician, and she refused. Over the years up to until I was 15, my sight deteriorated sharply. I had to beg and cry because I wasn't seeing anything in class. Only then did I get prescription glasses. At -5.25.

I never knew the eye had dopamine receptors. When I heard dopamine was involved, I looked up if there was a connection to ADHD (i have it and it is a dopamine disorder) and I saw there are studies beginning to look into the overlap. Fascinating how important dopamine is and how far neurological science has progressed to see these links.

Fifteen years as a social media manager and, thankfully, still has no need for glasses. I do wear anti-rad glasses for protection and spend time outside. Didn't know that was helpful until I watched this. Great video, as always!

This video feels like a wake-up call because it's been a couple years since my last eye exam, but I seem to remember them saying my myopia was around 9-11 and learning that just 5 puts you at increased risk of complications is terrifying. I'm probably overdue for an eye exam so I think I'm going to look into getting that done some time soon... it's scarier since I'm over 25, meaning my myopia is fully developed and pretty much irreversible.

1:38 “something about the way we live today is making it harder and harder for people to see at a distance.” - ironically this could an accurate metaphorical observation too.

Doing Lasic was the single most important decision of my life. It is SO much worth it, and even tho the upfront cost is high, but over 5-10 years you would have spent that much of money on glasses/contacts too. The time I saved from putting in and out contacts every day alone is worth it, not even speaking about the freedom of vision after 20 years again.

I didn't realize until this video that it was abnormal that I "grew out of" needing glasses for nearsightedness. I needed them starting in 6th grade as I realized I couldn't read the blackboard well but by the time I went off to college I had 20/20 vision naturally. Now in my 30s I have extremely mild presbyopia (so mild I don't bother wearing glasses 99.9% of the time).

I WISH I KNEW ABOUT THIS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER 😭😭I've asked multiple eye doctors about why I'm becoming myopic all of a sudden and they just said it's "genetics" and "just wear glasses" for that. But as a kid who had a really good vision I used to be proud of, began growing myopic during my 15th year and my indoor time spent in a dark bedroom during that time has a huge correlation! I am glad that I finally know why. And yea, my eyesight remains stable for the past 4-5 years and am still using the same glasses.

I developed myopia during the height of the pandemic when everything became online. I miss my 20/20 vision everyday. 😥

I had been wondering why more and more people wear glasses these days. I watch old movies, or movies set in historic times and wonder "why was everyone able to see long distances without glasses back then??" Now I have a better understanding as to why. I grew up in the 70's and spent most of my free time outside. But my myopia is genetic. Me and my sister have needed glasses since childhood. Thanks for this video!

Omg i faced retinal tears and underwent a barrage laser surgery and worsening vision in my 20s and i am guilty of spending hours reading stuff up close and time indoors. I will be making some serious lifestyle changes now. Better late than never, right? Thanks for this incredibly informative video, Vox!

I wish this video covered more about what adults who have had myopia since childhood can do to make their chances of worse disorders later in life smaller. Would lasik help? It sounds to me like it wouldn’t, but I don’t know much about this. I got all depressed after watching this cause I’ve had bad vision since I was a kid and now it’s telling me I’m probably gonna have cataracts or lose my vision completely when I get older lol

I sometimes feel like a freak of nature for being an adult with essentially having 20/20 vision. Like it's a mutant power that I am just able to "see" all the time without accessories. Because almost everyone I know wears glasses/contacts or just deals with blurry vision. If mine is ever blurry it's due to another short term issue like a migraine or allergies. *EDIT:* Don't be too jealous, I guess I traded near perfect vision for horrible sinuses. I'm jealous of everyone who doesn't get winded going up a flight of stairs bc they can breathe through their noses lol

As a fellow person using spectacles. Sitting on the train watching this video. Like around, almost everyone has glasses… Truly is a pandemic. Anyone remember when tv networks did “a day of play”. Encouraging kids to go out. That should apply to social media and streaming platforms now. At least once a month, we can change the future. But only if we want to.

I wasn't prepared for how informative this video would be. Thanks!

I’m an Optometrist. Thank you for this great presentation. People don’t seem to know about the light level impact on myopia, so I appreciate you getting the word out!

Atleast movies won't make makeover scenes where glasses are uncool cuz everyone is wearing em😂👓

The cinematography behind this is fascinating

Thanks for explaining this topic in a more detailed way and also showing the scale at which it has become an issue. I started where glasses for shortsightedness at age 10. My parents, eye sight has remained good. I have been using computers since 8. I have been predominately in inside professions. We were warned early on by our parents not to sit too close to the T.V.. I have taught ICT in workplaces and schools and this is part of healthy computing. I am now 50 and my Myopia has developed later than normal (Usually in peoples 30's in New Zealand). We now have children looking at screens at the age of 3 or 4. I unfortunately have never been offered any medical solutions except glasses and contact lenses. The special contact lenses mentioned in your article I only found out by, seeing and online medical advert. I was told they will not fix your downwards site. Unfortunately my downwards site is now at a stage, where it's next reduction, will require surgery to fix as the muscle that controls this, ceases to do it's job. I now have 3 pairs of glasses, one for screen, one for reading and one for normal functions like driving and walking, etc. I could not afford transition lenses and I also did not want them, due to their imprecision. Finally also not mentioned is the risks afforded to our environment, reduced blinking, smog and chemicals, injury and illnesses like diabetes. :)

It's not just "abusing" your eyesight that can cause this, there's also a number of eye diseases that can too. I have myopia thanks to uveitis, having never needed glasses prior. Some of us are just unlucky.

A few years ago I worked as a substitute teacher in schools over 100 years old. The architects of those buildings probably thought they were benefiting students by giving them enormous windows to flood the classrooms with sunlight. But in every classroom the shades were closed tight and when I'd raise them, clouds of dust would fly off and the students would recoil like molemen and scream for me to lower them again. I'd ask them, "Don't you ever go outside and see the sun?"

Yesterday I went for an eye check up cause the distant objects were little bit blurry specially for the right eye(sph -0.25 which is really mild)..It was a relief that I was at early stage😅 so my doctor told me to increase outdoor activities and reduce my screen time. Whereas youtube reccomending me this video by Vox is such an eye opener🥲❤

Thank you, this is so important 🙏

I got myopia when I was 16. Now I'm 21 and every time I went to the Ophthalmologist, my near-sightedness worsened. And this explained a lot, I always live in my home life in which I only stay in a very calm area or room that is mostly darker and always use a phone or tablet or reading books. Thanks to this video, I could change my routine (otherwise I'm definitely going to have some kind of disease later in my life). So thank you so much Vox.

Anyone else had their eyesights worsen during the pandemic? Both my parents have perfect vision, so did my sister & I. But after 2+ years of staying indoors so much my sister’s eyesight became worse than those of my parents - who are nearly 60. I also feel my eyesight got worse but luckily not much. I wonder how it is with kids/teenagers

I went from very subtle astigmatism as a late teen to being moderately nearsighted, very quickly, in my mid-twenties. I still believe this is due to my night-shift editing job I got soon after college. I would have my face just a few inches from the screen a lot of the time to "focus" on the words and rarely ever saw the light of the sun. I had -2.5 myopia within just a few years. Strong believer that staring at things up close can cause this.

This makes so much sense. Before education was mentioned, as soon as he said 'time indoors' I immediately thought of school; our whole education system and even 9-5 jobs are built around being indoors--so sad this wasn't known at the time, because I wish it could have been prevented 😭

Me watching with my glasses on

Are there more people in northern developed countries who have myopia than there are in other developed countries? It would be interesting to look at the data in countries where sunlight is practically non-existent during the fall and winter months. Also, what about surgeries? LASIK is a popular solution, although with its own risks... This video was cut short! There's so much more that could have been talked about...!

awesome insights! Thank you! You've earned my subscription

I have high myopia -10, most of my cousins and siblings do too. I’ve researched high myopia and found that the 2 biggest correlates are looking at things close by like books or smartphones, and educational level. I spent a lot of time indoors as a child, watching tv or playing computer games. And I’ve been in university for 7 years, which makes sense.

I've always had perfect vision growing up, but I suddenly had to start wearing glasses at age 19. Now I can't see much at all without my glasses. I used to spend more time outside, but a modern lifestyle doesn't allow for so much of it anymore. There was a noticeable difference in my vision coinciding with the switch to a more indoor, sedentary, and studious lifestyle.

I spent my childhood outside and I still ended with myopia at -5. I have done laser surgery 10 years ago and don’t regret it a bit.

such an important video!!! love how you gave compelling facts, well thought out reasons, and solutions!! let’s get our kids outside!!!

In my childhood I did play outdoors and had good vision. During highschool though once I started spending more time indoors and constantly use a phone or laptop for work my vision started to deteriorate. I had to get glasses by 18 yrs old. Now I'm 22 and this video just proved my theory of why my vision started going bad 😞 Great video

It's all but been confirmed that it's due to light exposure. There are several studies that make very strong cases for it. The problem is, none of them describe what type of light is important to get exposure to. Does UV light need to enter the retina? What type of UV? What wavelengths are best? Is it just overall exposure (brightness/intensity) and can sunglasses interfere with that?

Wow thank you so much for these videos Vox

Well done. This was a legitimately good and informative video.

Now, this was educational. Even though I've been myopic for well over half a century, I never knew about the added risks for serious problems like retinal detachment, or the connection to getting enough sunlight.

I started getting bad eyesight at 10, but was too scared to tell my mom until eventually a teacher told my mom. She was very mad that my eyesight became bad even though I couldnt do much about it. At 12 I got glasses but I lost them and my parents couldn’t afford new ones so I didn’t get another pair for another year. My eyesight is terrible now, I wish I intervened earlier

in another documentary i found on youtube a few years ago made the same pitch for spending time outdoors and looking around (not focused on your tablet or phone) - but they added another factor - i think it was Taiwan that turned around the upward trend of kids developing myopia - by constructing schools with larger windows that admitted a large amount of light (a minimum of i-don't-remember-how-many lumens) - maybe that could/should be implemented with workplaces too - if possible

Thank you for raising this issue. It is very inconvenience. Luckily i can still see clearly when playing sports or driving.

I don't want to go blind 😭

I love reading as a kid and would almost always be doing near work, but because I grew up in a rural area with rotating blackouts, I often had to read outside, in daylight, to save on energy. My eyesight was 20/20 until I got working in front of computers when I slowly became myopic. During the pandemic, when I had to stay indoors almost all the time, my vision became even worse and I had to change glasses in a span of a year. I attributed it to age and mere computer work but this video made me realize that it's also about spending so much time indoors. Thanks to this video, maybe I can slow down the progress of my myopia or at least have a better quality of life by spending more time outside.

This is true. When i was highschool my vision is decent and can see the board from the back of the class. But when Pandemic hit which prevented everyone from going outside for 2 years, now im in senior high and i didnt notice my vision became bad until i looked to the board and cant even see clearly even though im in the middle sit.

I am 22 seconds into the video and I just wanna say I am so impressed by the camera skills, editing skills, creativity, its just blowing my mind

I just love how you tend to end on a positive note, whatever the topic. We need that. Our societies are learning and progressing, despite sometimes feeling otherwise.

I also got my first pair of glasses at age 12. But luckily my vision stabilised then and twenty years later I'm still at the same mild degree of nearsightedness. I only ever need my glasses at the movies or at the back of a classroom.

Cool video! I wear multifocal contact lenses when I'm out at work since I'm both near-sighted and far-sighted (+ I have an aversion to glasses). They get somewhat annoying when trying to read small text since they are designed to where you have to use your peripheral vision to focus up close...which, I haven't mastered the art of reading with my peripherals. I hope they are actually helping out with my nearsightedness though.

I’ve always wondered about this. Interesting video

I got lasix in 2009. Literally one of my best decisions ever. Yes I need reading glasses but far less than most and I can see everything else still. I’m 56.

I always had 20/20 vision until last year. I only have a small prescription but makes a big difference to me when wearing my glasses. I'm 19 and hope my vision doesn't get worse because of this.

Thank you for adding this to my list of worries

I’m 18, and only got my glasses last week. I was always proud of my eyesight, but I guess it was bound to happen, especially since both my parents wear glasses.

Omg Brilliant video 🎉 very good editing and storytelling! And true!!!

I have - 3 myopia, I spent all my childhood outdoors, I'm from Algeria, we didn't have indoor devices to look at, we didn't even have a TV! Same with my friends at that time. Most of us have myopia now, I really don't think it's because of spending time indoor. One of my friends has 10/10 vision, he spent his life indoor front of screen playing games all day and night.

I started wearing glasses for reading but eventually kept them on at all time because I felt I looked better. Fast forward into my mid 20s and my vision starts significantly declining year after year with the doctor having no clue. After finally going to retina specialist and getting like 10 different exams done turns out I have an obscure eye disease that is similar to astigmatism but worse since it can't be easily fixed with laser. I remember poking fun at a friend when I was 18 since she couldn't read small font from a short distance and now in my 30s I am in the same boat :/

I have somewhat strong myopia (-5.25 and -5.00) - I appreciate this video talking about how having a strong myopia can affect more than just your eyesight in the event your myopia is caused by the shape of your eyeballs... A routine retinal exam for me found 1 tiny retinal hole, which two years later became several retinal holes and increased lattice degeneration, which a few months later came my first symptoms of fluid infiltration through these holes (photopsias and shadows) and I have had to have laser photocoagulation treatments a few times to decrease risk of retinal detachment. Strong myopia is a serious problem and it's so important to go beyond visual exams and get your retinas checked regularly ! For everyone but especially for highly myopic people.

As someone who lives in Taiwan, seeing small children playing on phones all day wearing big glasses is saddening.

This is brilliant. Thank you.

I've always had this, unfortunately. As a little kid, I would sit closer to the TV than my brothers because I found it hard to see clearly when I played video games. My parents thought that I had simply had a had a bad habit, but I was doing it out of need. In my early teens I got a prescription for glasses. It got worse when I went into adult hood and what I heard in this video makes me understand why. As a kid I would be outside A LOT, running about, climbing, yata yata. However as an adult I am forced to be indoors more often and my jobs are around computer technology. Which as the video said is more about short range focus over long range focus and that feeds into the condition negatively. Thanks for the informative video.

Oh god. I have a severe case of nearsightedness, and I absolutely hate being outdoors (have several nature allergies, hate getting too hot and bothered, and hate the glaring sun). This answers quite a bit. I really wish there was a better solution than going outside.

I intend on homeschooling my kids so I will definitely emphasize outdoor recreation. I spent every summer as a kid on my bike it is still one of my favorite activities.

I remember when this research first appeared in public media some years ago. Helps explain why I've been myopic since primary school as I often preferred o be inside reading than outside. It also has interesting implications for science fiction writers because any future human society that has to grow up without sunlight is going to be very myopic.

Someone has to invent an eyeball shortener

This touches me way much more than I would hope. I got my own glasses last November but knowing that this might just not be genetic randomness makes me sadden a bit.

It would be neat to, in addition to a video like this, do a video on the use of video games that involve far away figures and narrow movement being used as physical therapy for certain vision disorders. Some people have used first person shooter games and games with text as a way to increase their vision, and it'd be a good video to balance out this one.

I think other than the volume of light outdoors vs indoors, being outdoors also require you to have a higher situational awareness to see things around you and further into the horizon, requiring the muscles holding your lenses to stretch and contract (basically, exercise!) more, and with that flexibility, your eye health improves / doesn't degrade as fast. Come to think of it, since transitioning to working from home full time, my eyesight has deteriorated quite a bit over the last 5 years as I no longer need to drive during the daily commute. When I do travel, I'm usually not driving, and the destination is another building confined by four walls, so this explains A LOT. Dang. I need to go to the park more! Incidentally, in my family of four siblings, the two who regularly wear their glasses 24/7 and the other two who wear it infrequently and only when needed (i.e. reading) saw very drastically different pace of eye degradation. Could our dependence on corrective lenses be a contributing factor to this rise in myopia? Note: I'm saying it's a CONTRIBUTING factor, not the only one. And I'm asking, not declaring it as a fact. Food for thought.

I spent more time indoors growing up than my brother did. I was also more studious looking at things up close such as books. I wear glasses and he doesn't. So it seems that this report is consistent with my experience.

Very Interesting and informative. I’ve got a stigmatism in my left eye. I didn’t realise that it’s a disease. Kids needing to be outdoors instead of inside on devices to prevent myopia is something I’d never think was possible.

Huh. I never really thought about it before, but myself, all of my immediate family members, and all of my friends wear glasses or contacts. That does seem pretty strange when you actually stop and think about it. Very interesting video. My vision was stable for many years before deciding to get significantly worse two years ago, but I hope they will be stable again now.