Does Our Ethnicity Affect Our Eyesight?

Skin color, ethnicity, nationality, and culture: they are all indicators of our future. As technology continues to grow, differences between Asian-Americans are found than that from African-Americans; studies are being conducted on the distinct characteristics of Hispanic-Americans health, versus that of Caucasian-Americans. Every one of these attributes in our life tends to affect our health, well-being, and even our general mind-sets; so it's not too far fetched to think about how exactly our ethnicity or race play a role in our eyesight. Let's discuss a little further...

After a recent study at Ohio State University, it was found that there is actually a close correlation between children's ethnicity and certain minor vision problems. According to their study, Hispanic youth were most likely to be diagnosed with having an astigmatism than any other ethnic groups researched. They also noted that it was more common for Asian-American children to be near-sighted, while Caucasian-American children suffered from farsightedness more than other ethnic groups. What is very unique is that the exact amount of Asian-American youth whom experienced near-sightedness was equal to that of the Caucasian-American children whom experienced farsightedness problems.

There are certainly other factors that play a role into our eyesight, such as diet, family history, and age. Our eyes, like any muscle in our bodies can be both exercised, as well as deteriorated. Diet is a big part of one's culture and nationality. The concepts of both diet and family history can really become an argument of nature vs. nurture. While its fairly obvious that diet can be seen as both; family history isn't always so simple because we typically see genetics are purely nature-related. However, if, for example, the majority of the family has a certain type of medical problems, it could very well be due to external reasons. Additionally, as we age our eyes and eyesight change, especially as growing children. Since the aforementioned study was done specifically on youth, it can be assumed that while the results are important and thought-provoking, changes - even slight changes - are bound to happen. Even the conductors of the study noted that the majority of children entering school are slightly farsighted, however, with time (and growth), the problem tends to dwindle away.

While it is clear that further research needs to be conducted, it is very safe to say that our ethnicity certainly exerts an influence upon the health and well-being of our eyesight. Of course it is important to always ensure that your eyeglasses prescription is up-to-date and that your eyes are checked regularly by a doctor. Eye glasses play a major role in fixing our initial optical failures; however the fact that they exist, and there is a difference between the different cultures is interesting, in and of itself. So, do you fall into the pattern of these ethnic averages?

Hillary Glaser is the Director of Marketing and Special Projects for GlassesUSA.com - the easiest way to buy glasses online. She over sees day-to-day operations for all marketing and promotions of eyeglasses for the company.