If you are one of the many parents in our practice who has a child with myopia (nearsightedness), you may think the solution is simple: Make sure your child wears their prescription glasses and come back for an eye exam to update their prescription each year.
However, myopia is more complicated than that. It is becoming a worldwide epidemic: In 2010, approximately 28% of the world’s population had myopia. By 2050, the National Institutes of Health estimates that more than 50% of the world’s population will have myopia.
Because of its increased prevalence, which may be related to the onset of digital screens in our lives, the National Academy of Science now describes myopia as a disease with an increasing severity. Classifying myopia as a disease rather than a condition emphasizes the importance of addressing its long-term complications—not simply correcting blurry vision.
As your optometrist, that changes how we think about myopia. Our goal isn’t only to help your child see the board at school. We also want to monitor their vision to determine whether their myopia is getting worse and, when appropriate, use strategies proven to slow its progression.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into myopia and what we can do about it.
What is Progressive Myopia?
Myopia results from an elongated eyeball. When the eye grows longer from front to back, it causes light to focus “in front of” rather than “directly on” the retina. That makes your distance vision blurry, because the focus point is not directly on the retina. If the eye continues to elongate as your child grows, their prescription can change or worsen — which we call progressive myopia.
Progression matters because higher levels of myopia are associated with higher lifetime risks of serious eye conditions, including retinal detachment, myopic macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts. And these are all serious conditions that could results in significant vision loss or blindness.
The American Optometric Association (AOA) prioritizes treatments to manage myopia as an important part of children’s eye care. Scientists have identified several approaches to slow myopia progression, including specialized glasses lenses, multifocal contact lenses, orthokeratology, low-dose atropine, and behavioral strategies.
Early Detection Is Key
There are a lot of reasons your child may develop myopia. For example, it may run in your family. Kids who develop myopia at a younger age (say, age 3 versus age 7 or 10) have more years of growth in which the condition can progress. That means their eyes can grow longer over time, and the longer the eye grows, the more likely lifelong complications are.
That’s one reason why annual comprehensive eye examinations with your optometrist are so important.
What Treatments Slow Myopia Progression?
Fortunately, there are a few ways to slow myopia progression, including:
Specialized “Defocus” Glasses Lenses
Until recently, single-vision glasses were the go-to option for kids with myopia. But now there are special glasses lenses designed specifically to control it.
FDA-approved in September 2025 for kids aged 6 to 12, the lenses correct your child’s central vision while intentionally placing most of the peripheral light their eyes receive in front of the retina (instead of behind it), thus discouraging the eye from elongating further. That sounds complicated, but clinical studies show it works: Kids who wore the lenses for two years had a 71% reduction in myopia progression and a 53% reduction in eye elongation compared with those who didn’t wear them.
There are other specialized lens designs being studied, including DIMS-based lenses, which were effective in 61% of study participants aged 6-16.
Multifocal Contact Lenses
Certain multifocal or dual-focus soft contact lenses are designed to correct central vision while providing an optical signal intended to reduce excessive eye growth. Clinical evidence supports their use as one option for slowing myopia progression in appropriate children.
Orthokeratology
“Ortho-k” or orthokeratology is an overnight treatment in which kids wear rigid contact lenses while sleeping to temporarily reshape the cornea. They remove the lenses each morning and can often see well without correction during the day. Because ortho-k lenses are contact lenses, infection is a risk, so parents must consider their child’s age and level of responsibility when deciding on the treatment.
Research shows that orthokeratology significantly slows eye growth and myopia progression.
Low-Dose Atropine
At regular dosage, atropine is the eye drop used to dilate your pupils. However, at a much lower dose, that same eye drop is proven to slow myopia progression. The exact dosage varies and must be specialized for your child. Though not yet FDA-approved for widespread use, studies indicate low-dose atropine safety and effectiveness. In February 2026, the AOA issued a statement to the FDA supporting a study of the treatment as beneficial for kids with myopia.
Spending Time Outside
There’s one easy way to lower the progression of myopia in your child: Encourage them to spend more time outside.
That’s because when your eyes perform up-close focusing work indoors – like staring at a cell phone or iPad screen – the lighting somehow interacts with the biology of the eye and increases myopia. But spending time outside has benefits: sunlight, relaxed eyes and Vitamin D are three factors that may play a role in why spending time outside can help reduce myopia progression.
What Can Parents Do?
One strategy you can implement immediately is to minimize your child’s screen time and maximize their playtime outside.
Then, at your child’s next comprehensive eye exam, ask us whether your child’s myopia is progressing and whether it is appropriate to consider myopia-control treatment. We will help you weigh the options and choose the right path forward for your child and their individual needs to help protect the health of their eyes for decades to come.