Dietary intake and associations with myopia in Singapore children

Purpose To evaluate associations of dietary factors with myopia, spherical equivalent refractive error (SE) and axial length (AL) in children at age 9 from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) birth cohort. Methods We included 467 multi‐ethnic children (933 eyes) who participated in the GUSTO prospective birth cohort and were delivered in two major hospitals in Singapore (2009–2010). At the 9‐year visit, we assessed the 6‐year incidence of myopia (between ages 3 to 9), cycloplegic SE and AL in children without myopia (SE ≤ −0.5 D in either eye) at the 3‐year visit. Using a validated 112‐item food frequency questionnaire, parents reported each child's average daily intake of dietary factors (nutrients and food groups) in the past month. Paired eyes were analysed using Generalised Estimating Equations with multivariable logistic or linear regression. Bonferroni corrections were applied, correcting for multiple comparisons between the 13 nutrients (p