Look a little further
Most people attending Healthy Options know I place a huge level of importance on getting active outdoors and engaging with nature to improve our physical and mental health.
The environment and wildlife we are lucky to have on the west coast of Scotland is the main reason I relocated to this magical part of the world, but could a seldom considered side effect of access to these green spaces improve or slow the deterioration of our sight?
We are living through an unprecedented period in human history when so much of our time is spent looking at objects nine inches to two to three feet away from our face and eyes.
This has been accelerated since the advent of the smart phone, but we also spend long periods of time watching computer screens and tablets at close range.
As a result, the incidence of myopia or near sightedness across the globe is increasing significantly, especially in developing children and young adults who are spending long periods staring at small screens.
One of the best compensatory behaviours to maintain better eye health is to view objects at greater distance and one of the best ways to do this is to get outside.
Research points to the fact children who spend at least two hours or more outdoors a day have a vastly decreased risk of developing near sightedness.
This stands to reason as for most getting outdoors is the only way to view things several hundred yards away and challenges the eye in a different way to viewing a screen. Team sports on a football, hockey, netball or rugby pitch will accomplish the same outcome and children who take part in regular team sports outdoors also show lower levels of myopia.
Just being outdoors and gaining access to natural light is also important because of the way wavelengths of natural light improve the workings of the eye.
So even if have to use a PC or phone for your employment, trying to do some of this work outdoors or near an open window could prevent or slow vision loss.
A walk through one of our stunning forests or majestic coastlines encourages us to lift our eyes and focus on areas much further from our face. That could be a distant mountain, a passing fishing boat or squirrel moving through the treetops.
This can help to prevent a lengthening of the eyeball which tends to come about as a result of viewing objects at close quarters for lengthy periods of time.
It means the visual image we are viewing through our eyes lands closer to or “near” the lens and is not focussed sharply on our retina, hence near-sightedness.
Knowing this, it is no real surprise the incidence of near-sightedness is increasing when we consider the imbalance in today’s society of time spent looking at a small screen or book close to the face as opposed to objects further away.
I get the irony that I am looking intently at a small laptop right now while composing this piece but, luckily, I have already spent several hours outdoors this morning.
At Healthy Options we encourage a metaphorical broadening of horizons but perhaps by regularly turning our eyes towards our real, beautiful natural horizons we can protect our vision for as long as possible.
If you could benefit from more health and wellbeing guidance, including guided and tailored activity programmes, self-refer to Healthy Options Thrive by visiting www.lornhealthyoptions. co.uk.