A child may look adorable with a pair of large eye frames perched on his little nose bridge, but the fact of the matter isn’t to be taken lightly.

Often labelled the “Myopia Capital of the World”, approximately 7% of 5-year-olds in Singapore are myopic and the figure goes up to 85% by the time they become young adults. That’s a lot of people in Singapore requiring spectacles, and from a young age.

The younger a child becomes myopic, the faster their myopia will progress. By 2050, up to a quarter of the myopic adults may have high myopia – defined as myopia of 500 degrees or greater in each eye.

Correcting myopia vs. slowing down its progression

Rather than simply getting higher-prescription glasses to correct high myopia when it happens, it is more important to think about slowing down myopia progression at an earlier stage to prevent high myopia.

There is no safe level of myopia as there is an increased risk of developing serious vision-threatening complications later in life if myopia progression is not addressed from a young age. Each additional 100 degree of myopia doubles the risk of developing glaucoma and cataract compared to a person with perfect eyesight.

Choose spectacle lenses that slow down myopia progression

You can help to slow down your child’s myopia progression by choosing the right type of spectacle lenses.  Regular glasses with single-vision lenses don’t slow down eye elongation – the cause for worsening myopia that may lead to vision impairment later in life.

Essilor® Stellest® Lenses have been clinically proven to slow down myopia progression by 67% on average compared to single vision lenses, when worn at least 12 hours a day^[1].

Using “H.A.L.T*” technology – Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target – Essilor® Stellest® Lenses are made up of a cutting-edge constellation of 1021 invisible** lenslets, which creates a volume of signal in the child’s eye acting as a shield against eye elongation. They are comfortable and easy to adapt for children, with no compromises.

Visit your nearest eye care provider for a thorough eye check, which can uncover eye problems, such as with visual acuity (vision sharpness) and to explore a suitable myopia management solution for your child if he or she is found to be myopic.

 

Learn more about Essilor® Stellest® Lenses here or find an Essilor Expert near you today here.

 

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[1] Compared to single vision lenses, when worn 12 hours a day. Two-year prospective, controlled, randomized, double-masked clinical trial results on 54 myopic children wearing Stellest® lenses compared to 50 myopic children wearing single vision lenses. Efficacy results based on 32 children who declared wearing Stellest® lenses at least 12 hours per day every day. Bao J. et al. (2021). Myopia control with spectacle lenses with aspherical lenslets: a 2-year randomized clinical trial. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.; 62(8):2888.

* Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target
** Aesthetic finish