Ophthalmologist called for lightening the burden on primary and secondary school students to protect their eyes.

Sun Fengyuan, a deputy to the National People's Congress and dean of Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital, suggested that difficulty of the curriculum syllabus for primary and secondary schools should be reduced, and more attention should be paid to promoting students' physical and mental health, and protecting their eyes.

"The rapid increase in the myopia rate of adolescents, trending with younger ages, has become one of the irreversible eye diseases in China," Sun said.

He stressed the importance of balance between curriculum with extracurricular activities which is of great importance in staying healthy and preventing diseases.

"The younger the age of when nearsightedness occurs, the higher the risk it entails. The prevention and control of myopia should be taken from the children," Sun Fengyuan said, "We should adjust the syllabus to reduce burden in primary and secondary schools and increase that at the university level."

He also said the reasons leading to the myopic eyes are complicated. Only when government, schools and families work together can it be reduced.