Patterns of myopigenic activities with age, gender and ethnicity in Sydney schoolchildren

Purpose To examine the patterns of myopigenic activity (high near work, low time outdoors) in children growing up in Sydney, Australia, by age, ethnicity and gender. Methods The Sydney Adolescent Vascular and Eye Study (SAVES) re‐examined children from the two age cohorts (6 and 12 years at baseline) from the Sydney Myopia Study (SMS). At 5–6 year follow‐up, 863 in the younger cohort and 1196 in the older cohort had complete refraction data. Cycloplegic autorefraction (cyclopentolate 1%; Canon RK‐F1) was measured at baseline and follow‐up. Children who became myopic (≤−0.50 dioptres spherical equivalent refraction) were those classified as non‐myopic at baseline and myopic at follow‐up. A detailed questionnaire was administered to measure weekly activities, including time spent outdoors and near work at both baseline and follow‐up examination. Results Overall, 128 (14.8%) children in the younger cohort and 210 (17.6%) in the older cohort became myopic. At follow‐up, for both cohorts, children had significantly reduced the amount of time spent outdoors (younger cohort, p = 0.001, older cohort, p