Topic 02 of 08
Daylight and outdoor time
The best-evidenced thing a family can do to lower the odds of short-sightedness starting — and the most often misunderstood.
The short version
Around two hours a day outdoors in daylight, counted across the week, is associated with a lower chance of myopia starting. It has to be outdoors: an overcast sky is still many times brighter than a well-lit room, so shade, rain and winter count and a window does not. It is about light, not sport — a child reading on a bench counts. And it is a prevention finding: once myopia has begun, daylight is not your treatment (see Topic 05). The hard part is not the evidence but the timetable, and that is what most of this topic is about: the walk to school, the breaks, one outdoor club and a weekend morning.
All articles in this topic
In reading order, curated — not newest first Two hours of daylight: the strongest evidence for protecting a child's sight Around two hours a day outdoors lowers the odds of myopia starting. Why it must be outdoors, why shade counts, and where a school week hides the time. Where the two hours of daylight come from in a real school week Nobody has two free hours. A father's planner for finding two hours of daylight in a real school week, for under-5s, 5 to 11s and teenagers.
This topic in the book Chapter 4 of Children's Eyesight Problems The full treatment with the evidence tables and the week planners. Kindle, paperback, hardcover.
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