Progression of Myopia

[PKar]

My 3 your daughter has - 6.00 vision in  both her eyes. She has been using laptop and computers since she was 2. And she watches it too closely. My husband also has myopia -4.25. And few of them suggested that eating a poor diet during pregnancy  might have caused this.The doc says its hereditary but I have a feeling thats watching computer too closely must also be a reason. My questions are, she still uses computers for about 4 hours a day and very closely. Can this cause progression too fast ? And what causes Myopia ?
Thank You!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[AntonReiser]

Myopia is partly hereditary.
But there were many studies which show that in groups of students with much near work the progression of myopia is higher than in groups of other children/adolescents.
http://books.google.com/books?id=mNT577S8uywC&pg=PA193

Outdoor activity is said to limit the progression to a certain extend:
http://www.ophsource.org/periodicals/ophtha/article/S0161-6420%2807%2901364-4/abstract
And: it's healthy anyway, won't do any harm and doesn't cost any money.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The computer is not at fault.  Myopia is often hereditary. Some cases are sporadic. The role of near tasks such as reading has been debated for 75 years without definitive evidence one way or another.  DIet is not a cause.

JCH MD