Longitudinal Measurements of Visual Diet in Children

Summary

Myopia is a leading cause of visual impairment worldwide, with prevalence rising rapidly among children. Growing evidence suggests that environmental and behavioral factors play a dominant role in ocular growth; however, current studies typically isolate single components of the visual environment, such as near work or light intensity, limiting investigators' understanding of how multiple visual stimuli interact within individuals over time. The retina is continuously exposed to a dynamic "visual diet," encompassing viewing distance, illuminance, spectral composition of light, and temporal viewing patterns, as well as associated visuomotor responses such as eye vergence and pupil dynamics. A critical barrier to myopia prevention is the lack of longitudinal, quantitative measurements that integrate these factors in real-world settings during childhood ocular development. The long-term goal of this project is to prevent myopia onset and slow myopia progression through individualized, patient-centered monitoring and modification of the visual diet. The overall objective of this proposal is to longitudinally characterize visual diet and visuomotor behavior in children and to identify the most influential environmental and physiological factors driving myopia onset and progression. The investigators will conduct a 3-year longitudinal observational study enrolling 60 children aged 7-12 years, including myopic children and non-myopic children stratified by risk of myopia progression.

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