Forty percent of American children between the ages of 6 and 19 are currently nearsighted, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In Asia, the rate is nearly double. Worldwide, researchers project that if current trajectories continue, 50% of the global population will be myopic by 2050 — a figure that was once considered alarmist and is now regarded as a conservative estimate by the ophthalmology community.
This is not simply an inconvenience that corrective lenses can fix. Myopia, when it progresses to its most severe form, dramatically elevates the risk of potentially blinding conditions: retinal detachment, glaucoma, early cataracts, and myopic maculopathy. According to the AAO, children who develop myopia early and progress to high myopia face a 50% greater risk of glaucoma, are 17% more likely to need cataract surgery, and carry a 6-fold greater risk of retinal detachment and retinal tears. The disease burden that will materialize in adult life as today's myopic children age represents one of the most significant preventable vision crises in history.
