According to a study, short-sightedness will be lesser likely among children who regularly play outdoors when they become teenagers.

There have been earlier researches that state that eyesight can get benefitted when time is spent outside but it has not been proved that it is natural light that benefits the eyesight or the exercise.

However, lead author Dr Cathy Williams, of Bristol University, said the study was the first one to throw light on the benefits of natural light to the eyes.

It has however been felt by the researchers that good vision could be linked to time spent outside and this was regardless of family history, the time used in reading and how much physical activity is done by a child.

For claiming the above, about 7000 children were looked at for eye tests and these kids were from South-West England and for about seven days, the physical exercise of these kids who were seven, 10, 11, 12 and 15 years old were looked at.

There was a 50 per cent chance of kids having short-sightedness by the time they were 15.

Dr Williams said, "We're still not sure why being outdoors is good for children's eyes, but given the other health benefits that we know about we would encourage children to spend plenty of time outside, although of course parents will still need to follow advice regarding UV exposure."