The global prevalence of myopia (nearsightedness) is increasing and its not clear why. Over the past 30 years, myopia has increased from 25% of the US population age 12-54 in 1971-1972 to 42% between 1999-2004. According to one study, in East Asia 50% of the urban population is myopic, with an astonishing 90% of all students there suffering from myopia. It appears that both environmental and genetic factors play a role in the development of myopia. It does seem that performing near tasks such as reading or use of hand held devices at a young age dose increase the chances of a child becoming myopic. Also, hunter and gatherer societies have significantly lower rates of myopia. In rural China, another study showed the prevalence of myopia is 16.2% while its 38.1% in metropolitan Guangzhou and 36.7% in metropolitan Hong Kong. There also are ethnic differences seen in the prevalence of myopia with the prevalence being highest in Asian populations, followed by Hispanic, African-American and Caucasian populations. As our world becomes more urban and more near-task oriented, it could be the case that we will continue to see the prevalence of myopia continue to increase. Fortunately, contemporary technology for treating myopia with advanced wavefront LASIK and PRK techniques offers an outstanding solution for the vast majority of myopic people.