Over 70% of 12- to 14-year-olds in China are near-sighted. They must get out more
中国12至14岁青少年近视率超过70%。他们需要更多的户外时间
经济学人双语版-近视者的希望 Hope for myopes
THE PHONE on Wang Xiaoying’s desk rings incessantly on a weekday morning. An optometrist in Shanghai, Ms Wang doubles as a part-time operator for China’s first publicly funded call centre providing information about myopia. It began operating on January 7th. Most callers are parents who worry about the deteriorating eyesight of their young offspring. “Make sure your child spends two hours outdoors each day!” Ms Wang often urges them. Another tip she offers is to avoid reading when supine. Trying to focus on an object held up by an unsteady arm is likely to strain the eyes, some experts believe.
在一个工作日的早晨，王小英（音译）桌上的电话响个不停。她是上海的一名验光师，在中国首个政府资助的近视防控热线服务做兼职接线员。这条热线于1月7日开通。来电咨询的多数是担心孩子视力下降的父母。“确保孩子每天有两小时户外活动！”王小英经常这样敦促他们。她给的另一个建议是不要仰卧看书。一些专家认为，当手举着东西不稳时，努力看清楚上面的内容很可能导致眼睛疲劳。
The government reckons that more than 450m people in China, or at least one in three, are short-sighted (meaning that distant objects appear blurry). Globally just over one in five are. The prevalence of myopia among Chinese schoolchildren is even more alarming. In 2018 an official survey of 1m pupils found that among those aged between 12 and 14, 72% had myopia, up from 58% in 2010. Early onset of myopia is associated with a higher risk of eye diseases such as glaucoma, which can lead to blindness.
中国政府估计全国有超过4.5亿人即至少三分之一的人口近视（看不清远处的物体）。而全球的近视比例是五分之一略多。中国小学生的近视高发更加令人担忧。2018年，一项针对100万名学生的官方调查发现，在12岁至14岁的学生中，近视的比例从2010年的58％上升到了72％。近视早发的人更容易患眼部疾病，例如可能导致失明的青光眼。
The affliction’s spread in China is partly related to genes. Myopia is more common among East Asians than among white people. A study in 2016 found that just 19% of white 17-year-olds in Britain were short-sighted. But lifestyle plays a big role. A report by the World Health Organisation says the genetic contribution is “considered small”. To the extent that genes are involved, they “may determine susceptibility to environmental factors”. These are often a lack of outdoor activity and excessive “near work”, ie, too much time staring at close objects. The combination of an exam-crazed culture with the rapid spread of smartphones and computer-game technology explains much of China’s problem.
近视在中国蔓延与基因有一定关系。相比白人，东亚人近视更普遍。2016年的一项研究发现，英国17岁白人中仅有19%近视。但生活方式有很大影响。世卫组织的一份报告称，遗传因素“被认为影响不大”。基因所能影响的只是它们“或许可以决定人对环境因素的敏感性”。这些因素通常是缺乏户外活动，以及过多的“近距离工作”，即长时间近距离视物。疯狂的考试文化，加上智能手机和电脑游戏技术的迅速普及，是中国近视高发的主要原因。
A paper in 2008 by a group of Australian researchers supports this idea. The study tracked hundreds of ethnic Chinese children in Sydney and Singapore. Whereas only 3% of the children in Sydney had become myopic by the age of seven, 29% had in homework-obsessed Singapore.
澳大利亚一组研究人员在2008年发表的一篇论文支持了这种观点。该研究跟踪了悉尼和新加坡的数百名华裔儿童。到这些孩子七岁时，在悉尼生活的仅有3％近视，而在作业量大的新加坡，近视率高达29%。
Officials fret about rising myopia not only because they care about people’s health.Legal Daily, a government-owned newspaper, recently suggested that China’s security could be compromised by its shortage of military recruits with normal eyesight. Last year China’s navy relaxed requirements for new pilots, no longer insisting on 20/20 vision.
官员们担心近视率升高不仅是出于他们对人们健康的关心。官方报纸《法制日报》最近指出，视力达标的新兵人数不足可能会影响中国的国家安全。去年，中国海军放宽了招飞的视力要求，不再要求双眼1.0。
In 2018 it pledged to ensure that, by the end of this decade, less than 60% of 12- to 14-year-olds would be short-sighted. It also said the proportion of 15- to 17-year-olds with myopia should fall below 70% by then, down from 80% two years ago. Since 2018 periodic eye exams have been made compulsory at schools. Qiu Yu, a headmaster in Beijing, says his 1,800 pupils take eye tests twice a year. Headmasters whose pupils show a worsening trend in eyesight are summoned for “talks” by education officials, Mr Qiu explains—ie, a dressing down.
2018年，它承诺确保到2030年，12至14岁青少年的近视率降至60%以下；它还表示届时15至17岁青少年的近视率应从两年前的80％降至70％以下。2018年以来，学校已强制定期检查视力。北京的一名校长邱瑜（音译）说，他的1800名学生每年接受两次视力检查。邱校长解释说，学生视力状况下降的学校校长会被教育局官员“约谈”，也就是挨训。
The party’s remedies include evidence-based as well as unorthodox prescriptions. Schools must ensure that students have at least an hour a day of outdoor activity (many experts believe sunlight helps prevent myopia or slow down its progression). Pupils in the first two years of primary school—a time of life when eyes are highly sensitive to strain—must not be given written homework. Those in the final year of primary school should receive at most one hour of it daily. Video-game makers must release fewer new products and devise ways of limiting the time children spend playing them. Schools and families must encourage children to avoid sweets and eat more fish. Experts agree that fish, which has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, is good for eye health. Many doctors also recommend avoiding sugary foods, though why this helps is unclear.
党的补救措施既有基于证据的，也有非正统的。学校必须确保学生每天至少一小时的户外活动（许多专家认为日光有助于预防或减缓近视）。在小学一二年级这个人生阶段，孩子的眼睛对疲劳高度敏感，学校不应布置书面作业。小学六年级学生每天的作业量不应超过一小时。电子游戏制造商必须减少新产品的发布，并设计出方法限制儿童玩游戏的时长。学校和家庭要鼓励儿童少吃甜食，多吃鱼。专家一致认为，鱼富含omega-3脂肪酸，对眼睛健康有益。许多医生也建议少吃含糖食品，尽管目前尚不确定糖分如何影响视力。
More controversially, schools must ensure that pupils do “eye exercises” twice a day. These involve massaging the region around the eyes using the knuckles, with the thumbs placed on the temple (see picture). Mr Qiu, the headmaster, says that each set of exercises takes five minutes. The practice has its origins in traditional Chinese medicine. As with many remedies of such provenance, there is no sound evidence that it works.
更有争议的一个要求是学校必须保证学生每天做两次“眼保健操”。其中一节是用拇指按住太阳穴，用指关节按摩眼眶（见图）。邱校长说，做一套眼保健操大概需要五分钟。这种方法源于中医。和源于中医的许多疗法一样，没有确凿的证据能证明眼保健操的作用。
The government could be doing more. Academics believe the proportion of pre-teens in China’s countryside who suffer from myopia may be five percentage points lower than in urban areas. That may be because they spend more time outdoors. But only one in seven rural schoolchildren who need glasses wear them, says a recent report by James Chen of Clearly, an international charity. A pair of cheap spectacles costs less than 50 yuan ($7). Yet many rural Chinese think that wearing glasses aggravates myopia. In fact, squinting without glasses puts more strain on the eyes, and may cause sight to worsen. Officials should try harder to discredit mistaken beliefs.
政府还可以做更多的努力。学术界人士认为，中国农村13岁以下儿童的近视率可能比城市低五个百分点。这可能是因为他们的户外活动时间更多。但是，根据国际慈善机构Clearly的陈禹嘉最近的一份报告，需要戴眼镜的农村学童中只有七分之一在戴。一副便宜的眼镜不到50元，但许多中国农村人认为戴眼镜会加重近视。实际上，不戴眼镜眯着眼看东西会加剧眼部疲劳，可能导致视力进一步下降。政府官员应该加大力度破除错误观念。
Yang Lili, a mother of a bespectacled 12-year-old in Beijing, is grateful that officials are belatedly paying attention to “the poison” of myopia. But they are “only scratching the surface, not solving the real problem”, she says. Ms Yang blames the entire culture of education.
北京的杨丽丽（音译）12岁的孩子也戴着眼镜。她对于官员们终于开始关注近视这颗“毒瘤”表示欣慰。但她说他们“只是在隔靴搔痒，没有解决实质问题”。杨丽丽认为问题出在整个教育文化。
The fact remains that admission to the best universities involves intense cramming for a single exam. Schools may reduce homework. But parents “will continue to find private tutors and anything that gives their child an edge”. Another plan may be needed. ■
现实情况仍然是孩子们若想要考入顶尖大学就要为高考进行高强度的填鸭式学习。学校可能会减少家庭作业，但父母“仍会继续安排课后补习，以及任何能给孩子带来升学优势的活动”。逆转近视问题可能需要重新全盘考虑。
原文 https://www.economist.com/china/2020/01/18/most-12-to-14-year-olds-in-china-are-short-sighted
转载 https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/103588565
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