THE EPIDEMIC Myopia has always been thought of as a hereditary trait. However, recent studies indicate that environment and lifestyle may have an equally important role to play in the onset of myopia in children.. (Myopia is the inability to see distant objects clearly. Also called nearsightedness/shortsightedness.) The revelation is comes at a time when an epidemic of juvenile myopia is sweeping through Asia. As reported in the journal ‘Lancet’, up to 90% of young adults in China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and South Korea are myopic. Worse still, 10% to 20% of these schoolchildren suffer...