Madeline said:

As a New York State licensed ophthalmic dispenser (optician) I can tell you
that this oft-repeated statement is probably not true. All young children
spend the same amount of time in school every day, doing the same close
work,
and it would be a very rare child indeed who spent substantial additional
hours reading. Even among those who do, I cannot say I have seen from
personal experience that they become nearsighted (myopic) as a result.
Additionally, nearly all children nowadays spend hours a day playing video
games and doing computer work, which has not led to an increase in myopia,
that I am aware of.



I wonder. I guess I was one of those rare kids, because I used to read
constantly from a very young age, to the point of walking around with a book
in my hand (and not bashing into anything, to the wonderment of many). My
eyes are pretty bad, -9 contact prescription. My siblings are all somewhat
myopic, but I am definitely by far the worst, and by far read the most.

Of course, I am a sample size of one, but still, I wonder. I would like to
belive it's not true! It's depressing when you have brought problems on
yourself, from lack of knowledge.