Kids Who Get More Sunlight Less Likely To Need Glasses

An interesting article on eye health appeared on CBS News recently. Following are some excerpts:

“Playing outside has a number of well-established health benefits for kids including increasing their physical activity and decreasing their risk of obesity. But perhaps a lesser known benefit is that it can help protect their eyesight. “Now a new study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, further supports that notion. “Researchers in China found that spending an extra 40 minutes a day outdoors for three years resulted in a reduction in the rate of myopia, or nearsightedness, in children. Myopia is a condition in which close-up objects can be seen clearly, but distant ones can’t. It’s estimated to affect about half of kids in the U.S…..”

Rev. Malkmus Comments

In recent years there has been a war on the sun, causing people to have a fear of sunlight exposure on the skin. Is this fear justified? God created the sun! Adam and Eve were naked when they were exposed to the sun’s rays. Did they experience melanoma cancer as a result of that exposure? Are we today supposed to allow the sun to shine upon our skin? People all over the world work and play in the sun all day with no cancers. Why do some people experience cancer from sun exposure while others do not? The key is diet! The Standard American Diet (SAD) is so lacking in protective nutrients, melanoma cancer is prevalent, yet feed them a plant-based diet and melanoma cancers usually disappear and/or never occur. The sun has so many positive effects upon the body. For just one it provides vitamin D. One of the reasons so many people are sick in the wintertime is because they receive so little sunlight on the body they are deficient in vitamin D. As a child, from the time I got out of school until supper time, I was out in the sun hiking, playing stick-ball, or doing something else in the good ol' outdoors and in the sunlight. Today, rather than being outdoors in the sunlight, children are indoors watching television or playing video games. Parents have a fear of the sun, and thus do not encourage their children to play in the great outdoors. May this article be a wake-up-call! The sun is our friend and has many benefits IF we are on a plant-based diet!