While recent increases in the rates of things like autism and allergies have received plenty of attention recently, here's an epidemic that's been largely ignored: nearsightedness. Here in the U.S., a whopping 42% of people are nearsighted, almost double what is was three decades ago. The increase is directly linked to how much time people spend indoors under artificial lighting, which is near constant nowadays for a "normal" lifestyle. Luckily, this can easily be prevented, and it's very important for people, especially children, to get plenty of natural sunlight to prevent developing myopia (nearsightedness).
The benefits of natural lighting don't stop there though, it's also been found to help prevent depression and sleeplessness. Like myopia, depression rates have been rising recently and the simple fix is to live a more natural lifestyle. Of course, this would cut into the profits of the medical-industrial complex, so I don't expect to see very many doctors prescribing sunlight anytime soon. What's needed the most now is not more medications and other artificial "solutions", but fundamental changes to our lifestyle that value our happiness and health.
Sources:
The Sun Is the Best Optometrist (New York Times)
Lack of exposure to natural light in the workspace is associated with physiological, sleep and depressive symptoms.(pubmed.gov)
