Adiposity and the Prevalence, Incidence and Distribution of Refractive Errors in Urban Vietnamese Children

The study examined the relationship between body mass index and refractive errors in Vietnamese schoolchildren. The analysis included data from 2022 to 2024 from 31,522 children older than 6 years from three Vietnamese cities. Results showed that any refractive error followed a U-shaped curve depending on body mass index, with this relationship being statistically significant in girls but not in boys. Obesity was associated with higher prevalence of refractive errors in girls. Astigmatism was associated with body mass index in both sexes, while myopia and hyperopia were not linked to adiposity. Short-term follow-up over 1 to 2 years found no evidence that prior body mass index predicted the onset of new refractive errors.