Once upon a time, vision issues were considered a problem relegated to a select subset of the elderly population. It was considered somewhat rare for a child to have any vision problem (of any severity) 40-50 years ago. However, the general state of affairs concerning eye health has changed significantly over time. According to the Oregon Health & Science University, "The prevalence of myopia (near-sightedness) in the U.S. increased from 25 percent in the early 1970s to nearly 42 percent just three decades later."