學生近視問題呈現低齡化，學生近視問題已經成了一種流行病。
如何緩解學生近視問題，戶外運動是已經驗證的有效手段。
所以，對于一天大部分時間都在學校學習的學生來說，防止近視，學校要讓學生盡可能多得走出課堂，去戶外活動。
本周，我們來精讀2022年6月第三期《經濟學人》中來自Leaders板塊的文章
What to do about myopia
如何解決近視問題
Short-sightedness has become an epidemic
近視已經演變成一種流行病
To fight it, schools should send their students outside
學校應該把學生趕出教堂
本文有很多值得學習的句型和翻譯。
我們先來看下結構。
1. Few things come with no downsides at all. Rich countries have almost completely banished infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera and malaria. Instead, their health ministries spend much of their time worrying about illnesses caused by wealth. Cheap, calorie-dense food has abolished starvation in the rich world, but it also encourages diabetes. Sedentary, white-collar jobs are less arduous (and less lethal) than manual work. They also promote obesity and heart disease.
凡事都有不好的一面。富裕國家幾乎完全消滅了傳染性疾病如肺結核、霍亂和瘧疾。然而，富國健康部門大部分時間卻在擔憂由富裕引起的疾病。
便宜、高熱量的食物讓饑餓在富國消失殆盡，但也帶來了糖尿病。比起體力工作，久坐不動的白領工作不累也更安全。但它卻造成了肥胖症和心髒病。
注意：Few things come with no downsides at all這句話和 every cloud has a silver lining 可以算作一對反義詞：凡事都有不好的一面，凡事都有好的一面。
2. Even education is not always an unalloyed good. Over the past few decades, East Asia has seen a stunning rise in the rate of short-sightedness. And a growing pile of evidence suggests that the main underlying reason for this is education—specifically, the fact that children spend large parts of the day in comparatively dimly lit classrooms.
即便是教育領域也不是歲月靜好。在過去幾十年，東亞國家的近視率上升速度驚人。越來越多的證據表明造成這一現狀的根本原因在于學生每天大部分時間是在昏暗的教室中度過的。
3. Before the long economic booms that began in the 1960s, myopia was uncommon in East Asia. These days, among the young, it is almost ubiquitous. In Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei more than 80% of school-leavers are short-sighted. In Seoul over nine in ten young men are. China, which began its economic rise later, is catching up. Data from as far afield as Guangzhou in the south and Inner Mongolia in the north show myopia rates among young people of about 80%.
在20世紀60年代長期經濟繁榮之前，近視在東亞國家中很少見。而如今，近視人群在年輕人中幾乎隨處可見。在香港、新加坡和台北80%的學校畢業生近視。在首爾，9/10的年輕人近視。經濟起步較晚的中國，近視率也不斷攀升。數據表明從南方的廣州到北方的內蒙古，年輕人的近視率達到了80%左右。
4. If East Asia is the centre of the epidemic, the West is not immune. Good data are harder to come by. But studies suggest rates of between 20% and 40% in Europe, an order of magnitude higher than the natural state of affairs. One study in California found a rate of 59% among 17- to 19-year-olds.
如果說東亞是近視流行病的重災區，西方也不能獨善其身。確切數據很難得到，但研究表明歐洲的近視率在20%到40%之間。這一數字比自然發生率還要高。加利福尼亞州的一項調查顯示59%的近視患者年齡在17到19歲。
5. There are, admittedly, worse things to suffer from. But short-sightedness is not always benign. Glasses and contact lenses are an expensive, lifelong hassle. In parts of rural China, where some families cannot afford either, children struggle in the very schools that are causing the problem. And severe myopia predisposes those enduring it to other eye diseases in middle age, some of which can cause untreatable loss of vision. Governments in Asia are increasingly worried about the public-health implications of entire generations growing up short-sighted. Those in other parts of the world should start worrying, too.
不可否認，近視患者要經曆更糟的事情。近視對任何人都不會仁慈。眼鏡和隱形眼鏡很貴，但不能不戴，而且還要終生佩戴。
在中國農村地區，家裏貧窮沒錢購買眼鏡的學生還要在造成近視的根源地繼續掙紮學習。嚴重的近視會讓患者在中年患上其他眼部疾病，其中一些疾病會造成不可逆轉的失明。
亞洲各國政府對近視不斷增加的一代所展現出的公共衛生問題越來越擔憂。世界其他國家也該警惕起來。
6. The evidence suggests that regular exposure to bright daylight is vital in properly controlling the growth of children’s eyes. Too little light leads to elongated, short-sighted eyes. Researchers think that this explains why rates are so high in Asia, where a strong cultural emphasis on the value of education leads to long school days and, often, private tutoring in the afternoon and evening. That leaves little time for sunshine. Western children, whose parents are increasingly worried by a hyper-competitive jobs market that threatens much less secure employment than they enjoyed, are beginning to go the same way.
有證據表明定期暴露在白日光下能夠適當控制孩子眼睛的生長。接觸光線過少會造成長期近視。
研究人員認爲這就解釋了爲什麽亞洲人口的近視率高，因爲亞洲深厚的文化傳統重視教育，所以學生們花在學校的時候很長，而且還要參加下午和晚上的輔導班，從而剝奪了接觸陽光的時間。
而對于西方孩子來說，高度競爭的勞動力市場威脅著西方家長對工作的安全感，所以西方家長的憂慮在增加，也開始走上東亞國家的老路。
7. Special eyedrops, as well as clever glasses and contact lenses, may be able to slow the progression of myopia once it has started. But prevention is better than mitigation, and the science suggests a cheap, straightforward measure. A series of encouraging trials, many conducted in Taiwan, show that giving schoolchildren—and especially those in primary education—more time outside can cut the number who go on to develop myopia. An island-wide policy of doing just that seems to have begun reversing the decades-long rise in myopia rates. Similar attempts in Singapore relied on parents, who proved more reluctant to change their behaviour, perhaps worried that other parents might not follow suit, leaving their children at a disadvantage in the classroom.
一旦近視形成，特殊眼藥水、合適的眼鏡以及隱形眼鏡能夠幫助緩解近視的過程。但是未雨綢缪最好。科學家們提供了一種經濟實惠且簡單直接的方式。
一系列令人激動的試驗，包括很多在台灣進行的試驗表明增加學生，尤其是小學階段的學生的戶外時間能夠讓那些即將發展成近視的人避免近視。這一全島執行的政策似乎已經扭轉了十多年近視率上升的趨勢。
新加坡也進行了類似的嘗試，他們依靠父母來行動。那些不願改變自己行爲的父母，或許擔心其他父母會跟著政策走，這樣自己的孩子在教室就處于劣勢之中。
8. Governments are well placed to solve such collective-action problems, while reassuring anxious parents that a bit less classroom time is unlikely to be catastrophic. After all, countries such as Finland and Sweden do well in global education rankings with a less intense approach to education. Giving more outdoor time to young children would still leave room for them to cram for exams in their teenage years. And longer breaks in the playground may also make a dent in other rich-world problems such as childhood obesity. Far-sighted governments should send the kids outdoors. ■
政府已經准備好解決這個需要集體力量來實現的問題，同時也向焦慮的父母保證，少點課堂時間沒什麽大事，不會對學習帶來影響。畢竟，那些全球教育排名靠前的國家如芬蘭和瑞典的教育手段沒那麽激進。
讓孩子擁有更多的戶外時間仍然留給他們在少年時期准備考試的時間。運動場上多活動也能解決其他富裕國家的問題如兒童肥胖症。
有遠見的政府應該讓孩子走出教室，去戶外玩耍。