Outdoor Jogging and Myopia Progression in School Children From Rural Beijing: The Beijing Children Eye Study

PURPOSE: To assess the influence of an outdoor program on myopia progression in school children. METHODS: The prospective interventional school-based study included 373 students aged 6 to 7 years (grade 1 or 2) who were examined annually between 2012 and 2016. Between 2012 and 2013, the children in the study group (n = 157) performed a 30-minute jogging exercise every school day, while the children in the control school (n = 216) did not. All children underwent a comprehensive ocular examination, including biometry. RESULTS: At 1 year after baseline, axial elongation and progression of myopic refractive error were significantly lower in the study group than in the control group. Study group and control group differed in axial elongation only in the subgroup of children nonmyopic at baseline, while axial elongation in the children myopic at baseline did not differ between both groups. At 1 and 2 years after the outdoor program stopped, increase in axial length was significantly larger in the study group. At 4 years after baseline, study group and control group did not differ significantly in total axial elongation and total change in refractive error. CONCLUSIONS: An outdoor program of 30 minutes performed every school day for 1 year temporarily reduced myopia progression in schoolchildren nonmyopic at baseline, with a complete rebound effect after the program ended within the 3 following years. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: An outdoor program of 30 minutes performed every school day for 1 year temporarily reduced the progression of myopia in schoolchildren nonmyopic at baseline for the period when the program was carried out.