Children twice as likely to be short-sighted as 50 years ago
Has Peaches’ widower found love with her model friend Daisy?
IT has been nearly two years since he was left a widower after Peaches Geldof’s tragic death.
Now Thomas Cohen may have found a reason to be happy again – a blossoming romance with one of his wife’s closest friends.
The musician was seen to share a tender kiss with model Daisy Lowe, 26, as they strolled together hand in hand in North London yesterday.
Wrapped up against the cold as they walked Miss Lowe’s dog, Monty, the pair looked relaxed and happy in each other’s company.
Rumours of a relationship between YOUNGSTERS are now twice as likely to be shortsighted as they were five decades ago, researchers found.
More than one in six British teenagers struggle to see long distances – potentially because they spend too much time looking at screens indoors.
They are also developing eye problems at a younger age. But experts say preventing their vision deteriorating could be as simple as spending an hour extra in natural light each day.
Scientists tracked more than 1,000 children over six years, and compared their results to similar research from the 1960s.
In the largest study ever to follow youngsters’ vision over time, they Miss Lowe and Cohen, 25, began a few weeks ago after they went on holiday to Miami together, along with singer Rita Ora and DJ Nick Grimshaw.
Miss Lowe was a good friend of Miss Geldof, who was just 25 when she died of a heroin overdose in April 2014.
The glamorous pair mixed in the same circles for at least a decade, and Miss Lowe is also close to Peaches’ younger sister Pixie.
According to reports, Pixie has given Miss Lowe’s relationship with Cohen her blessing. A source said: ‘Everyone found that myopia – the medical term for short sight – is most likely to develop between the ages of six and 13 years.
Figures revealed that 16.4 per cent of children aged 12 to 13 are now short-sighted, compared with 7.2 per cent of those aged ten to 16 in the 1960s.
Among a slightly older age group, aged 18 to 20, researchers found that 18.6 per cent are now myopic. Five decades ago, it was just 14.4 per cent of those aged 12 to 21.
Writing in the journal PLOS One, the team from Ulster University said: ‘The proportion of myopes [short-sighted people] in the UK has more than doubled over the just wants to see Tom happy after Peaches’ death.’
Cohen was married to Miss Geldof for 19 months, and is now bringing up their two young sons, Astala, three, and Phaedra, two. Opening up about Peaches’s death, Miss Lowe told InStyle magazine last year: ‘I think about her a lot. She’s very missed. Very loved.
‘It’s funny, I end up kind of talking to her a bit. I still think I see her, or songs will come on and I will go, “I swear that you just put that on.”’
Last night a spokesman for Miss Lowe said: ‘We do not comment on our clients’ personal lives.’ last 50 years in children aged between ten and 16 years, and children are becoming myopic at a younger age.’
Lead author of the study, Professor Kathryn Saunders, said: ‘These results give us a clear picture of how children’s eyes are developing – and ultimately could enable us to give advice to parents about protecting their child’s eyesight.’
She added that the rise in shortsightedness was unlikely to be down to genetic inheritance.
‘Other studies have shown that the increase in myopia is far too rapid to be down to simple genetic factors,’ she said. ‘So we know there must be something else adding to the risk.
‘People have been looking at environmental factors and [ have] focused on how much time children are spending outdoors.
‘There is some evidence that just an hour extra spent outdoors every day can protect children from developing myopia.’
Researchers believe that the less time spent outside, the higher the chance of developing vision problems. It is thought this is because eyesight is affected by the level of vitamin D in the body – which is altered by being in natural light.
‘We are continuing to test these children,’ Professor Saunders said. ‘One of the side arms of the study is looking at vitamin D levels and their effects.’ Previous studies have also highlighted the link between time spent outside and lower rates of short sight.
Researchers in China reported a 23 per cent reduction of myopia in children who spent an extra 40 minutes each day in the sunshine.
Meanwhile a study of 500 children in Ohio – which tracked them for five years from the age of eight – found a fifth were ultimately diagnosed as short- sighted. The only environmental factor linking them was time they spent outdoors.
Mike Bowen, research director at the College of Optometrists, said: ‘From these results we are seeing a clear increase in the prevalence of children with myopia.
‘Research suggests that early intervention can help slow further increases, so sight tests in children at most risk of are very important.’
‘More than simple genetics’