RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DURATION OF OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES AND THE INCIDENCE OF MYOPIA IN CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstrak

Myopia in school-aged children is now a global health problem that has increased drastically due to shifts in modern lifestyles. Children currently spend more time indoors for close-range activities and using gadgets, thus reducing the duration of outdoor physical activity which actually has a protective effect from exposure to natural light. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between outdoor physical activity and the incidence of myopia. This type of research is a quantitative descriptive with a cross-sectional approach. The population in this study was all elementary school students. Sampling was carried out using a purposive sampling technique of 67 people. Data collection used questionnaires and observations. Data analysis used the chi-square test. The results showed that most respondents had a moderate duration of outdoor activity, namely 44 respondents (63.8%). Most respondents did not experience myopia, namely 53 respondents (76.8%). Correlation analysis showed a significant relationship between the duration of outdoor activity and the incidence of myopia in elementary school children (p = 0.001). Respondents with a low duration of outdoor activity had a higher proportion of myopia than respondents with a moderate or high duration of outdoor activity. Based on the research results, it can be concluded that there is a relationship between outdoor physical activity and the incidence of myopia, low duration of outdoor activity has a higher proportion of myopia incidence.