TOKYO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Roughly a quarter of Japan's elementary school children who have itchy eyes during hay fever season have trouble studying, Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun reported Saturday, citing a recent survey by a pharmaceutical company.
The online survey, conducted by Rohto Pharmaceutical Co. on Jan. 24 and 25, asked 7,131 parents of children aged between 0 and 16, the report said.
According to the results, some 42.6 percent of the respondents said either their children had been diagnosed with a pollen allergy or they thought their children had one, an increase of nearly 10 percentage points from the 32.7 percent who said their children were allergic to pollen in a December 2014 survey.
Itchy eyes have a significant impact on the daily lives of children who play outside and are often in the open going to and from school.
When the survey asked parents to ask their elementary school children with itchy eyes about their condition, with multiple answers allowed, as much as 53.9 percent said that it affects their daily lives, while 25.6 percent said that they cannot concentrate on their studies, including schoolwork. Another 23 percent said that they cannot enjoy playing outside, and 11 percent complained that they cannot sleep at night.
Regarding the impact of itchy eyes on their children's lives, 44.2 percent of parents said that there were details that they had not been aware of until answering the survey, revealing that even though they live together, they have not grasped how much impact hay fever was having on their children. ■
