Who Has the Worst Eyesight?

Japanese people tend to have the worst eyesight of any national group in the world — it is estimated that over 60% of Japanese wear either contacts or eyeglasses on a daily basis. Other vision problems are common in Japan too. In 2005, researchers found that 1 in 20 Japanese men were colorblind. The country with the second-worst vision is Singapore, where over 1/3 of Singaporean children need glasses or contacts.

More Japanese health facts:

• Although they have the worst eyesight, Japanese tend to have the best life expectancy. The average life expectancy in Japan is around 79 years for men and around 86 years for women.


• As a nation, Japan also has one of the lowest obesity rates in the world. Only about 3% of Japanese people are thought to be obese, whereas almost 70% of Americans are either obese or overweight.


• Japan is estimated to have around 10 times fewer teen pregnancies than America.