Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to have a variety of potential health benefits, including a lower risk of heart disease, dementia and some forms of cancer.

Now, new findings indicate omega-3s might help ward off the development of nearsightedness (myopia) in children, according to a reported Aug. 19 in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

People with myopia have trouble seeing distant objects clearly.

Specifically, kids with lower omega-3 intake in their diet were more likely to develop the physical eye conditions associated with nearsightedness, including an oblong-shaped eye or a steeply curved cornea, researchers said.

The results highlight omega-3 fatty acids “as a potential protective dietary factor against myopia development,” concluded the research team led by senior investigator Dr. Jason Yam, a professor of ophthalmology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The study also found that saturated fats from butter, palm oil and red meat might actually boost the risk of nearsightedness.

For the study, researchers tracked the eye health of more than 1,000 Chinese 6- to 8-year-olds, randomly recruited from a larger-scale Hong Kong eye study.

Questionnaires assessed the children’s diets, and those results were compared to results from their eye exams.

Omega-3 fatty acids are primarily found in oily fish, but they also can be found in some seeds and nuts.

Overall, about a quarter of the kids (28%) were nearsighted, results showed.

Axial length – the length of the eye from the front to the back – was longest in the 25% of children with the lowest dietary intake of omega-3s, after accounting for other factors, researchers found.

Nearsightedness (also known as shortsightedness) sometimes occurs when the shape of the eye causes incoming light rays to fall short of the retina, the wall of light-sensing cells at the back of the eye.

The study also found that kids with the highest intake of omega-3 fatty acids had the shortest axial length, an indication that they are protected against nearsightedness.

Similarly, measures of shortsightedness severity were highest in those kids with the lowest omega-3 fatty acids, researchers said.

On the other hand, these indications of nearsightedness were increased among kids eating heavy amounts of saturated fats, results show.

No other types of nutrients were associated with nearsightedness, researchers said.

Researchers speculated that omega-3s might protect against nearsightedness by increasing blood flow to the eye, promoting healthy eye development.