Kids seem to spend endless hours on smartphones, computers and tablets these days. The best thing parents can do to prevent it is to encourage youngsters to spend more time outdoors in the sunlight.

    There has been a massive rise around the globe in short-sightedness—or myopia as it's officially known—over recent decades. Myopia or short-sightedness is becoming more common. Lack of natural light seems to be the key issue. “The main factor seems to be a lack of exposure to direct sunlight, because children who study a lot and who use computers or smartphones or tablet computers a lot have less opportunity to run around outside and are less exposed to sunshine and because of that children seem to be at more risk of developing shortsightedness.”

    Professor Hammond says, “It may be there's no coincidence that in East Asian countries, the most myopic ones all relate may to be the that maths league tables(排名表). These kids are being pushed with very intensive education from a very young age and spend a lot of time indoors studying close up. Therefore the concern is that all close work—like playing with the iPhone—carries the potential that it could make them more shortsighted.”

    The best thing to do, say the experts, is to get children playing outside as much as possible. “In a perfect world, probably on average across the week and the weekend, two hours a day outdoors is protective of becoming short-sighted in children. Healthy diet is really also important—in terms of getting oily fish, green vegetables, green leafy vegetables as much as possible.

    “What we need to look at is ways of modifying the impact that these activities have on their visual development.” Professor Hammond said, “There are eye drops and other treatments to slow myopia progression. But in terms of preventing myopia itself, there isn't any data out there at the moment in terms of the question, 'Could the drops we use slow progression or stop myopia developing at all? ' ”

    "Are you going to Seattle?" an anxious-looking woman asked a female traveler at the Amtrak Airport in Sacramento. "No, I'm going to Eugene," the traveler replied. "Oh, I was hoping you could watch out for my daughter, she's never been on a plane before."

    Now, as I am quite a seasoned plane traveler, I know that seats and cars are supplied by destination（目的地）. So I came up to the woman and her frightened-looking daughter, telling them that her daughter could sit with me and that I would take care of her during the journey.

    The plane had arrived 25 minutes late, and people walked in line to get their seats. The conductor wanted to know if there were people traveling together, so I went to the front of the line with the girl and we were arranged to sit next to each other. Once on board, I showed her where to put her package, and took her to the bathroom area. Then we settled down to sleep. In the morning, I showed her the dining room and bought her a drink. She became comfortable enough to do what most 15-year-olds do: talk and text on her mobile phone.

    All through the trip, I made sure she picked up her ID, which had fallen out of her backpack, some money, which had fallen into the crack （缝隙） of the reclining seat, and continuously kept an eye on her. I hope someone takes her under their wing when she flies back to Sacramento.

    I do hope that kindness will spread around the world through these ways. We're conditioned to think that our lives go on with great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware, beautifully wrapped（包裹）in what others may consider a small one.

    Family Fun in Canadian Museum of Nature

    Bring the whole family to rediscover our fully redecorated museum.

    WHAT TO SEE AND DO

    Check out What's On for all the events, educational activities and HD movies happening during your visit. Care for birds, dive down into the depths at the helm (舵柄) of a research submersible(潜水器) or explore a cave… on the first floor. Don't miss our gallery play areas on the third floor when visiting with kids. By visiting here, your children will learn more about nature. Check out Our Exhibitions which presents our special exhibitions and our galleries. Be sure to stop at our Nature Boutique on the second floor for a vast selection of games, books and nature-related souvenirs from 9:30 am until the museum closes for the day.

    HOURS, ADMISSION, SERVICES AND MORE

    The Canadian Museum of Nature provides a lot of information, images and videos on our websites about nature, such as http://www.nature.ca/en/family-fun and http://www.expeditionarctic.ca/. The museum also participates in several social networks. Follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

    The American Heart Association (AHA) says that too many people are spending far too much time on chairs and couches. "Based on existing evidence, we found that U.S. adults are sedentary for about six to eight hours a day, "said Deborah Rohm Young, chair of AHA panel that wrote the new advisory.

    According to the AHA, growing evidence shows that, on its own, exercise isn't enough to cancel out the unhealthy effects of sitting for a long time. "Regardless of how much physical activity someone gets, long sedentary time could negatively influence the health of your heart and blood vessels," Young explained.

    The exact mechanisms behind the effect aren't yet clear. “There are many important factors we don't understand about sedentary time yet," Young said. She stressed that, "the types of studies available identify trends but don't prove cause and effect.”

    "We don't have information about how much sedentary behavior is bad for health — the best advice at this time is to 'sit less and move more,” she added.

    How much more? According to the AHA, people should try to get at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous (剧烈的）exercise a day to reach the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week, That's healthier than trying to cram their weekly exercise into one or two days, according to the statement.

    "The real risk simply comes down to the amount we sit, without there being a true medicine or method to control the harmful effects," said Steinbaum, a preventive specialist in heart disease.

    Still, society has evolved to encourage sitting, she added.

    "Our lives have become focused around activities requiring us to be still—whether it be transportation, our computers, or the television or computer in our leisure time,” Steinbaum said. "Sociologically, instead of being active to be productive or to have enjoyment, our productivity and fun often requires minimal physical activities."

    The best-known example of external( 外部的)influence causing language change is the "Americanization" of world culture, which has caused English words to appear in city streets all over the world. The effect is most noticeable in pop music. Foreign groups often record in English, and the words are picked up and repeated in the same language everywhere, even by children who otherwise have little or no command of the language. I once met a Brazilian child of about ten who could count 'one, two, three', but only by adding the words 'o'clock, four o'clock rock 'at the end.

Some people are often strongly critical of the influence of English on their language — especially when an English word replaces a traditional word. In 1977, France passed a law banning the use of English words in official situations if an equivalent( 意义相同的)French expression existed — but the law seemed to be honored more in the breaking than in the observing. Some other countries have considered introducing a similar law despite the evidence that such laws have very little effect, and that the arrival of loan words( 外来词) can greatly enrich a language (as indeed in the case of English itself, which has a long history of welcoming foreign words).

    However, not everyone is critical. In particular, commercial firms and advertisers are well aware of the potential selling power that the use of English vocabulary can bring. In Japan, English is even used in television commercials, despite the fact that the majority of viewers would not understand exactly what was being said: the excellence implied by the mere use of English is apparently enough to command the strategy to the advertisers.

    Most of the influence of English is upon the vocabulary of foreign languages, but surveys are slowly bringing to light several cases where word order or word structure has been affected. Sentences of the type “The book sells well”, using an active construction for a passive meaning, have begun to appear in Danish (Bogen soelger godt). Several languages keep the English plural ending when they make use of a loan word, and do not translate it into the native form, e.g. drinks. There are many other such cases.