Title: Your Child's Nearsightedness Is Getting Worse — Here's How to Slow It Down
Myopia in children is rising fast worldwide, and once it starts, it tends to keep progressing throughout childhood. Specialized contact lenses, myopia-control glasses, and low-dose atropine drops can now meaningfully slow that progression — protecting long-term eye health, not just today's prescription.
3/21/20262 min read
Your Child's Nearsightedness Is Getting Worse — Here's How to Slow It Down
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is rising rapidly among children worldwide, and once it starts, it tends to keep progressing throughout childhood. Two main drivers stand out. Kids are spending far more time on screens and doing close-up work (reading, homework, devices), which strains near vision. At the same time, they're spending less time outdoors — and that turns out to matter a lot: natural sunlight triggers dopamine release in the retina, which helps slow abnormal eye growth.
Kids who get at least two hours outdoors a day have measurably lower myopia risk.
Genetics plays a role too, but researchers point mainly to this lifestyle shift — the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated it further by pushing even more activity indoors. It's why myopia rates have climbed so much faster in the last few decades than genetics alone could explain, especially in East and Southeast Asia where the trend started earliest.
The good news: specialized contact lenses, myopia-control eyeglasses, and low-dose atropine eye drops can now meaningfully slow that progression, giving parents real options beyond simply updating a stronger prescription every year.
Why Myopia Control Matters
Nearsightedness itself is manageable with regular glasses or contacts, but the real concern is how far and how fast it progresses. The more severe a child's myopia becomes, the higher their lifetime risk of serious eye conditions later in life, including retinal detachment, glaucoma, and myopic macular degeneration. Slowing progression during childhood isn't just about a weaker prescription — it's about protecting long-term eye health.
What's Available Now
MiSight contact lenses were the first FDA-approved contact lens specifically designed to control myopia progression in children, and they can be prescribed starting at age 8. These soft, disposable daily lenses use a dual-focus design that corrects distance vision while sending a signal to slow the eye's growth.
Myopia-control eyeglasses are now FDA-approved for children ages 6 to 12. The center of the lens corrects distance vision as normal, while the surrounding lens intentionally blurs peripheral vision — a design that has been shown to slow the elongation of the eye that drives myopia progression.
Low-dose atropine eye drops, used nightly at bedtime, are another option for children roughly ages 5 to 18. Atropine is FDA-approved for other eye conditions and is prescribed "off-label" for myopia; results across studies have been mixed, and research into optimal dosing is ongoing.
The Research Is Still Evolving
A major independent trial, the Myopia Treatment Study 2, launched in early 2026 across 18 pediatric eye care centers nationwide to help determine which treatments — or combinations of treatments — work best. As more data comes in, guidance on the ideal approach for individual kids will keep improving.
What Parents Should Do
Not every child needs myopia control, and the right option depends on their age, prescription, and how quickly their vision is changing. The only way to know is a comprehensive eye exam that tracks your child's prescription over time and flags early, rapid progression before it becomes severe.
Worried about your child's changing vision? Schedule a pediatric eye exam with Dr Anklin to talk through the options.
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