This Week on beijingkids: Catch Beijing’s last “ghost” before it disappears, Italy’s cheesy gift to humanity comes to Beijing’s student mecca, a dog lover’s second best friend, and more!

Top Stories

Browse Beijing’s Last Ghost Market Before it Becomes an Apparition

This unique bazaar offers an aura of mystery and adventure for buyers, but as with many other historic Beijing institutions which have disappeared overnight, the city’s last “ghost market” is threatened with potential closure.

The Beijing Pizza Festival 2018 Is Coming to Zhongguancun, Oct 13-14

The sweet scent of dough and cheese from Beijing’s best pizza extravaganza rolls to a new and exciting place in the capital’s student and tech hub.

In Case You Missed It…

Filipinos in Beijing Raise RMB 12,000 for “Mangkhut” Relief Efforts in the Philippines

International groups, including a Beijing-based network of Filipinos, have called for donations after this year’s strongest typhoon pummeled the northern Philippines, leaving at least 81 people dead and causing USD 265 million in damages.

Homework and Screens Blamed for Epidemic of Myopia In Chinese Schoolkids

Over a third of Chinese fourth-graders, and nearly two-thirds of eighth-graders, have poor vision, believed to be the highest rates in the world, potentially causing problems in the job market in the future.

What to Eat in Beijing: A Visitor’s Guide

Rather than listing Beijing’s best restaurants, our sister brand the Beijinger picks out the dishes that best represent the capital’s food culture and give suggestions for where to eat them.

WeChat Group of the Week: Beijing Dog Owners

They say that a dog is man’s best friend, but for the dog lovers of the city’s international community, the Beijing Dog Owners group might be second best.

Want to know what’s happening in the Beijing expat community? Tune in on WeChat account every Sunday morning for This Week on BJK Online, our weekly roundup of the articles and other essentials published on www.beijing-kids.com. See more of our previous roundups here.

Photos: Sina, The Beijinger, Rappler.com, discovermagazine.com, Joey Guo, Pixabay

We’ve written before about the potential negative impacts on children’s health of both excessive homework and excessive screen time. Now the Chinese government has taken action, to tackle an alarming increase in myopia (near-sightedness) in children.

Over a third of Chinese fourth-graders, and nearly two-thirds of eighth-graders have poor vision, believed to be the highest rates in the world. Among other problems arising from this is the concern that in future China might have labor shortages in jobs requiring 20:20 vision, such as in aerospace and the military. Students in Chinese schools have for decades massaged the area around their eyes on a daily basis, but though this is believed to help with eye strain and headaches, there is no evidence that it prevents myopia.

Instead, recent research suggests that the true cause of nearsightedness, and the reason for the rising global incidence of the problem, is lack of natural sunlight. Scientists at the Australian National University in Canberra suggest that children should spend around three hours per day outdoors to protect their vision, although just 45 minutes a day can reduce progression of myopia by 25 percent. Their findings are supported by a remarkable study at a school in Taiwan, where children were made to go outside during their recess instead of having the choice of staying inside. At the end of the year, the myopia rate was 8 percent, compared to 18 percent at a comparable nearby school.

The Chinese government is in no doubt where the blame lies. Their new measures include a crackdown on online games, including tighter regulation, content ratings and a limit to how long children can play for – although it’s not entirely clear how the latter is to be implemented.

The other enemy is excessive homework. Schools have been ordered not to give written assignments to first- and second-grade children – although, as we’ve seen before, in this area even the otherwise omnipotent Chinese government is struggling to make progress against deeply ingrained ideas about education.

Whether the measures will be successful remains to be seen, but it’s further evidence of the toll being taken on our children by an unhealthy and unnatural lifestyle. We at beijingkids say: let the children play in the sunshine!

Photo: discovermagazine.com

Today’s youth may seem privileged what with their easy access to dazzling touch screens and other interactive gadgets, but recent reports say that technology is taking a troubling toll, especially on China’s youngsters.

Last month, an article on The Economist noted that nearly 80 percent of 16- to 18-year olds are short-sighted, compared to the mere third of that demographic who struggled with the affliction in 1970. The article added that the trend is even more alarming among primary school students: from 20 percent in 2000 to 40 percent today, more than quadruple the rate of such children in Germany and the U.S.

The story went on to site a study of 15,000 Beijing children, which concluded that "poor sight was significantly associated with more time spent studying, reading or using electronic devices, along with less time spent outdoors.” The piece said that myopia— the extreme instance of this condition that blurs anything outside of one’s 16cms of immediate vision— has become a new norm across Asia, affecting “… 80-90 percent of urban 18-year-olds in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.”

A post on healthxchange.com suggested key preventive steps like taking five minute breaks for every half hour of studying or work, use of good lighting and a routine of daily outdoor activities. It also said that parents who are concerned about their children’s vision should take note of “… frequent rubbing of the eyes, excessive blinking… squinting… and headaches from eye strain.” The International Myopia Prevention Association  touted those and other preventative steps, like regularly testing children’s vision by having them “…read a distant road sign or a newspaper held up at a distance.” It said that any ensuing difficulties should immediately lead to an optometrist appointment, adding: ”Don’t delay – otherwise there will be an irreversible overelongation of the eye.”

Myopiaprevention.org  says such proactive measures are crucial because the affliction has "no cure. It added that those already affected shouldn’t fear, because treatments like reading glasses are readily available. The aforementioned Economist story highlighted the broader social trends of Beijing’s rising myopia cases, describing our city’s famed glasses market as "a four-story mall crammed only with spectacle shops.” Hopefully that, and the vast range of cutesy frames available in stores and online, aren’t signs of complacency when it comes to our children’s eye care.
 

If you have concerns about your child’s vision, be sure to check beijingkids’ guide to optometrists.

Photos: Nicolas Alejandro Street Photogrpahy, Jenny Downing (flickr)