Genes are main culprit in development of myopia, stud...( nd reading for pleasure than did the ch...)

Myopic children scored about 10 percentile points higher than did non-myopic children on a test of basic reading and language skills.

A reason the myopic children scored higher on the test might have been because they study more, Mutti said. But we found that the myopic childrens scores were still higher after adjusting for more time spent reading and studying.

Myopic children seem to read more often, but not because they have better cognitive skills and therefore greater potential for achievement.

Mutti said the next step is to look at how these factors both hereditary and environmental might help vision care providers predict which patients will develop myopia.

Because myopia seems to be inherited, one predictive test might be to look for genetic markers for myopia, Mutti said, adding that he and his colleagues are currently looking for such genetic markers in children and adults.

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Contact: Donald Mutti
Mutti.2@osu.edu
614-297-7057
Ohio State University
14-Mar-2003