If you let your children get plenty of play outdoors they may never need glasses for nearsightedness. Nearsightedness, (myopia), is very common. Nearsighted school children are often assigned seats in the front of the classroom and usually need to wear glasses to see distant objects clearly. It is estimated that nearsightedness affects 42 percent of the people in the United States.

A research team in Cambridge England analyzed data from eight other studies that examined the amount of time children spent playing outside and correlated that with the prevalence of myopia. More than 10,000 children were examined in these studies.

Nearsighted people have what is called myopia. They need glasses to clearly see across the room or to see objects in the distance. Some people opt for Lasik eye surgery which largely corrects myopia by changing the surface curvature of the cornea.