Regarding the topic of children's myopia, I believe that parents and teachers have paid enough attention and are constantly striving to erect a solid wall for their children within their capabilities.

Today, the editor wants to talk to everyone about one of the important reasons that cause myopia in children and are easily overlooked - classroom lighting.

At present, the situation of visual acuity decline among students of all ages in China is constantly intensifying, and the myopia rate is increasing year by year and showing a trend of younger age. The myopia rate among teenagers has already ranked first in the world.

What kind of experience is suffering from myopia? According to statistics from the World Health Organization, the number of nearsightedness in China is nearly 700 million, ranking first in the world and showing a clear trend towards younger age. The data from the National Health Commission in 2020 shows that the incidence rate of myopia among children and adolescents in China is as high as 52.7%. This means that more than half of the children will find it difficult to engage in industries that are crucial for national development, such as defense, aerospace, and precision instrument manufacturing, when they grow up.

Myopia often occurs in primary and secondary schools. Chinese primary and secondary school students spend nearly 8-10 hours in the classroom every day. If it is a boarding school, children spend more time in the classroom. Multiple studies have shown that poor classroom lighting is currently one of the main reasons for students' decreased vision.

Most parents and teachers may not understand how classroom lighting can lead to myopia in children? Keep the lights on, children should do more eye exercises and pay attention to eye fatigue. Isn't that enough?! The fact is far from that. Is classroom lighting the brighter the better? Is there a clear standard for classroom lighting?

Firstly, let me share with you a few cognitive points about "light". What does the "bright" or "dark" that most people perceive represent? Below, the editor will briefly explain to everyone.

Luminance refers to the physical quantity of the intensity of the surface luminescence (reflection) of a luminescent body (reflector). The human eye observes a light source from one direction, and the ratio of the light intensity in that direction to the area of the light source "seen" by the human eye is defined as the brightness per unit of the light source, that is, the luminous intensity per unit of projected area. Brightness, also known as brightness, represents the degree of brightness of a color and is a subjective measure of human perception of light intensity.

Illuminance, abbreviated as illuminance, represents the luminous flux per unit area of the surface of the subject illuminated by light. The vertical luminous flux of a light source with a distance of 1m and a luminous intensity of 1cd per square meter of the subject illuminated by the light. Illuminance is an important indicator for measuring the lighting environment.

These two concepts are often confused in general everyday language, and there is a fundamental difference between the so-called "brightness" and "illuminance".

Simply put, people usually feel that the whiter the light, the brighter it is, which is actually wrong! Parents should pay attention when installing lighting equipment or purchasing desk lamps for their children's rooms, as the whiter the lamp, the better, and the brighter the lamp, the better.

Let's take a look at how the lighting equipment currently used in most schools affects children's vision?

Poor light quality

1. The direct light source causes severe eye glare, which can easily cause visual fatigue for teachers and distract students' attention. At present, most of the lighting fixtures used for classroom lighting are fluorescent lamps, which can only meet the basic lighting needs of the classroom. However, due to the exposed fluorescent tubes, there is a strong "glare" problem, which not only seriously affects classroom lighting, but also greatly reduces the efficiency of teachers and students in the classroom. In the long run, this will affect visual health.

2. The stroboscopic light source is high, which causes the pupil sphincter to keep opening and closing, causing visual fatigue and vision decline of students. At present, 220 V, 50 Hz fluorescent lamps are widely used as school lighting sources. The lamp tube produces 100 flashes per second. Learning under the constant stroboscopic light source, the visual system needs to constantly adjust the size of the eye pupil to protect the stability of retinal light intensity and imaging clarity. Learning under this light environment for a long time will definitely make the pupil sphincter tired due to overuse, which may cause eye fatigue and soreness, Severe cases can cause damage to the visual system.

3. The color rendering index of the light source is low, and the spectrum of ordinary fluorescent lamps is incomplete, which can lead to color loss and color deviation, far from meeting the national standard Ra ≥ 80. The poor color reproduction ability of lighting fixtures will directly affect children's color discrimination ability.

4. The color temperature of the classroom lighting is too high, and the light is too white. According to national standards, classrooms should use lighting with a color temperature of 3300k-5500k. However, most classroom lighting has a color temperature of around 6500K, which can easily lead to students' mental excitement, fatigue, lack of concentration, and myopia.

The average illumination and uniformity are not qualified and cannot meet the national standard requirements

At present, the overall illumination level of most school classrooms is not high enough, and the average illumination level of classrooms is generally lower than the national standard (national standard ≥ 300LX), and the illumination uniformity cannot meet the national standard (national standard ≥ 0.7); Although the classroom is equipped with blackboard lights, the average illumination of the blackboard lights is far from meeting the national standard (national standard ≥ 500LX), and the uniformity of the blackboard lighting cannot meet the national standard (national standard ≥ 0.8).

Low light source lifespan and severe light decay

Ordinary fluorescent tubes will experience light decay after six months of use, leading to a decrease in luminous flux and brightness. However, choosing to replace the tubes in order to maintain a certain level of lighting brightness can result in high maintenance costs and resource waste.

Traditional lighting consumes high power

Traditional fluorescent lamps have low luminous efficiency, with a typical fluorescent lamp of only 50lm/w. Fluorescent lamps emit light at 360 degrees, and the light emitted in the opposite direction has little effect, although it is reflected back through the lampshade but has low reflectivity. And the power consumption of ballasts in fluorescent lamps is also relatively high, so generally speaking, energy-saving lamps are not actually energy-saving.

High hazard of fluorescent tubes

Fluorescent tubes contain heavy metal substances such as mercury and fluorescent powder. If the tube ruptures and leaks, harmful substances will remain in the classroom for a long time. The volatilization cycle of mercury can reach up to 50 years, directly endangering the health of teachers and students.

Before renovation: The classroom adopts traditional fluorescent lights, which have high color temperature and severe glare. The hanging position of the blackboard lights is too high, and the overall space illumination is too low (especially the blackboard position, which has severe reflection).

After renovation: The overall illumination of the space has been improved to create visual comfort, and the blackboard position has been designed with separate lighting to eliminate reflective phenomena. The overall lighting environment meets eye protection standards.

The overall solution for classroom lighting designed by Huahui Lighting can effectively alleviate children's myopia, create a healthy lighting environment in the classroom, and provide children with a more comfortable, environmentally friendly, and eye friendly learning environment.

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