Nearsightedness is on the rise among children, and an optometrist says one of the best things kids can do to curb the trend is to get outside.

Research in the British Journal of Ophthalmology indicates that the rate of nearsightedness among children and teens has tripled in the last 30 years.

Those trends are being seen locally too, according to the president of the NL Optometrists’ Association Stephanie Powell Jenkins.

She says the biggest thing that can be done to prevent nearsightedness is to spend more time outdoors.

She notes spending just an extra hour outside per day can lower a child’s risk by 14 per cent. She says they want their kids to spend at least one or two hours outside per day, which can be split up over things like walking to school, and being outside at recess and lunch. Powell Jenkins says that should be combined with reducing the amount of “near work” they do, meaning time on things such as tablets and phones.