ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Could I Have Prevented My Nearsightedness If I’d Just Spent More Time Outside As A Kid? “A spate of studies over the past decade has found that kids who spend more time outdoors are less likely to develop near-sightedness. Outdoor time seems to protect kids even if they do a lot of ‘near work’ (e.g., reading Goosebumps and Animorphs nonstop) and if their parents are myopic.”