Are you nearsighted? If you are, your parents might have tried to do something to fix it, such as having you get an eye massage (按摩), take medicine or even get surgery. People who offer these services or products often claim that they can reduce or even cure myopia (治愈近视).
However, you will no longer see advertisements like this before long. The government has issued a notice targeting advertisements that make these claims. Specifically, the notice bans (禁止) businesses from using wording like "recovery" and "myopia cure" in their advertisements, People's Daily reported.
The notice says that myopia cannot be completely cured with current medical technology. Therefore, these advertisements could mislead children and their parents.
Young people can prevent and control myopia by spending more time outside and less time in front of books or computers. People who have vision problems should go to a hospital and let a doctor decide what to do.
More than 450 million Chinese were suffering from myopia as of June 2018, Xinhua News Agency reported. Myopia rates are around 30 percent for primary school students, 60 percent for junior high students and 80 percent for senior high students. This is likely because students spend a lot of time reading books and using electronic devices (电子产品).
To reduce myopia among young people, the government made a new plan last August. The plan is designed to limit the amount of time children spend playing video games, as well as limit the production of new video games, according to China Daily.
