Section 20 covered the first year of a child’s life. Section 18 discussed how much money and time raising a child requires. The period from ages 3 to 18 was previously left blank in this book; this section fills that gap. The advice on screen time by age group starts at age 0, because official classifications are 0–3 years, 3–6 years, and elementary/middle school — grouping them differently would make the guidance harder to use. This section answers one core question: when “don’t delay learning” conflicts with “protect physical health,” which actions absolutely cannot wait? They cannot wait because each has a strict time window; missing it means permanent consequences. Whether academic pressure should be so intense is not discussed here — only the relevant time windows and figures are provided. The first eight items and the final two address death and lasting physical harm. Item 9 (avoiding products that claim to “cure myopia”) deals with costs. Items 10 (official rules on sleep, homework, and sports rankings) and 11 (keeping school enrollment after a leave of absence) concern time commitments. Information on drowning, traffic safety, helmets, and HPV vaccination can be found in Section 1. Guidance for infants and toddlers is in Section 20. Issues involving online scams and in‑app purchases are covered in Section 5, while red lines minors must not cross are detailed in Section 9. Recognizing emergencies and calling for help are explained in Section 13, and what happens to children after a parent’s death is addressed in Section 29 — none of these topics are repeated here.
English text comes from the independent translation maintained by dlgrv. New entries without a translation appear in Chinese. The author's Chinese original is authoritative for the latest content. Translation snapshot: dlgrv/HowToLiveBetter · 11818c6
Child reports sudden, worsening pain — rush to the hospital right away; don’t let him wait until after school.
Some medical conditions are time‑critical — the outcome depends on how many hours pass from symptom onset. When a boy suddenly feels severe pain on one side of the scrotum, it may be testicular torsion: the blood vessels feeding the testicle become twisted, cutting off its blood supply. If treated within 6 hours, there’s a 97.2% chance of saving the testicle; after 19–24 hours that chance drops to only 42.5%. This kind of pain won’t wait until after school or until the end of an exam.
Cost
No cost at all. Just take a half‑day off work and take you…
Benefit
Researchers compiled data from 30 case series and 2,116 patients with testicular torsion. For 1,283 of those c…
02Evidence A
Don’t delay necessary treatment just to “wait until exams are over”; certain treatment windows depend on bone growth, not exam schedules.
Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine. A brace is a rigid shell worn on the back that helps keep the spine straight. When worn while bones are still growing, it greatly reduces the chance of needing surgery: 75% of patients wearing braces succeed, compared to only 42% who simply receive observation. This treatment window is tied to the timing of bone maturation, not to middle‑school or college entrance exams. Waiting until after exams often leaves surgery as the only option.
Cost
No monetary cost involved. This point concerns whether to…
Benefit
A multi‑center trial enrolled 242 adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis who met brace‑wearing criteria. Of the…
03Evidence A
When a child is bullied, report it to school the same day and request a written response; for physical assault, theft, or rumor spreading, call the police immediately.
Children who experience peer bullying are roughly 2.2 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who are not bullied, and about 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide. Schools must investigate any bullying report right away; if bullying is confirmed, disciplinary action must be taken against the offending students. In cases where bullying violates public order laws or may constitute a crime, schools cannot conceal the facts and must inform police. Therefore, reporting the incident the same day and demanding a formal written response is crucial — simply asking the teacher to “talk to him” is not enough.
Cost
There is no cost involved. Speak to the homeroom teacher a…
Benefit
This conclusion is based on 34 studies involving 284,375 children and teens. Peer bullying is linked to suicid…
04Evidence A
Ensuring that children spend at least 2 hours outdoors each day is currently the only myopia‑prevention method backed by randomized trials.
A randomized trial was conducted at 12 primary schools in Guangzhou: first‑grade students were given an extra 40 minutes of outdoor activity per school day. After three years, the myopia rate in these schools was 30.4 %, compared with 39.5 % in schools without the added classes — a reduction of 9.1 percentage points. The Health Commission recommends at least 2 hours of daytime outdoor time per day, or a total of 14 hours per week. Cloudy days and standing outside during recess also count.
Cost
There is no monetary cost. However, it requires setting as…
Benefit
In this trial, first‑grade students from 12 Guangzhou schools were randomly assigned to intervention or contro…
05Evidence B
No screen time for children aged 0–3; limit it as much as possible for ages 3–6; for school‑age kids, non‑educational screen use should not exceed one hour per day.
The Health Commission has set strict guidelines: no screens for children aged 0–3, and they should be kept away from screens as much as possible for ages 3–6. For school‑age students, non‑educational screen use must be limited to no more than 15 minutes at a time and no more than one hour per day. The reasoning is that prolonged close‑up screen exposure depletes a child’s “far‑sightedness reserve,” leading to earlier onset of myopia. Research linking screen time directly to myopia isn’t as conclusive; the strongest evidence comes from studies showing that two hours of outdoor activity per day helps prevent myopia.
Cost
There is no monetary cost. The real challenge is keeping s…
Benefit
Article 4 of the “Ten Core Principles for Preventing Myopia in Children and Adolescents” states: “Children age…
06Evidence A
Treating myopia as a lasting injury: the higher the prescription, the greater the future risk of retinal detachment, macular degeneration, and glaucoma
Myopia does not go away on its own, nor does the prescription level decrease. It is far more than simply “wearing glasses.” Compared to people without myopia, those with mild myopia face a risk of myopic macular degeneration roughly 10–15 times higher; for individuals with a prescription of 600 degrees or more, this risk rises by several hundred times. The likelihood of retinal detachment is about three times higher for mild myopia and roughly 13 times higher for severe myopia. Therefore, the earlier a child develops myopia and the faster it progresses, the greater the long-term risks they must face.
Cost
No cost involved. There is nothing specific to do here;
Benefit
A systematic review and meta-analysis compiled studies published up to June 2019, grouping participants into t…
07Evidence B
Take a close look at your child’s annual school health report and follow up on any abnormalities right away.
Every year, primary and middle schools conduct one health check for every student. The official guidelines list being overweight, obese, malnourished, having spinal curvature issues, poor eyesight, and dental cavities as key areas that need special attention. These problems are precisely the ones parents tend to put off dealing with. Don’t just glance at your child’s height and weight measurements and then file the report away. If any of these issues show up on the report, take your child to a specialist for a proper check-up that same year — don’t wait until the next annual check.
Cost
No cost at all. Under China’s Compulsory Education Law, al…
Benefit
The 2021 Administrative Measures for Health Checks of Primary and Middle School Students requires all such sch…
08Evidence B
Conducting a depression screening for kids aged 12 to 18 — don’t rely on school mental health assessments as a diagnosis
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening adolescents aged 12 to 18 for major depressive disorder, noting that the overall benefits are moderate and justify the effort. There is insufficient evidence to support screening for kids under 11. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 19. School mental health assessments conducted each academic year are population-wide screenings, not diagnostic tools. If a child reports feeling distressed, or shows sudden changes in eating, sleeping, interests, or academic performance, they should be referred to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist right away.
Cost
Costs range from zero to just a few dozen yuan;
Benefit
In 2022, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a recommendation statement advising that adolescents a…
09Evidence B
Do not buy products or services claiming to “cure myopia” or “reduce refractive error”
The State Administration for Market Regulation explicitly states that “under current medical technology, myopia cannot be cured.” Phrases such as “recovery,” “restoration,” “reducing refractive error,” “curing myopia,” “myopia remedy,” and “repairing refractive error” are classified as illegal marketing claims subject to strict enforcement. If you encounter any of these terms, you can safely rule out those products without further comparison. Devices such as eye-care instruments are considered medical devices, and e-commerce platforms must verify whether sellers are qualified to sell them.
Cost
There is no cost involved;
Benefit
A notice issued by the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation between November 2021…
10Evidence B
Clear rules exist for sleep, homework, sports, and rankings; if schools fail to comply, parents can raise the issue
These rules are all laid out in writing: elementary students must get 10 hours of sleep per day, junior high students 9 hours, and high school students 8 hours. Elementary classes generally start no earlier than 8:20 a.m., and junior high classes no earlier than 8:00 a.m. In 2025, an additional requirement was added that schools must provide at least 2 hours of combined physical activity per day, and students must not be ranked based on test scores. If your child consistently fails to get enough sleep, use these rules as a reference point rather than blaming the child for being slow to get ready.
Cost
No cost involved. All you need is to know these rules so y…
Benefit
The *Notice on Further Strengthening Sleep Management for Primary and Secondary School Students* stipulates th…
11Evidence B
Parents can request a temporary leave of absence for their child; the school must retain the child’s enrollment status for up to one year.
A temporary leave of absence is a fully established procedure. Parents or legal guardians submit a request, which the school then approves and forwards to the relevant education authorities for final authorization. Each request is valid for no more than one year; if the child still needs time off after that, a new request must be filed. During this period, the school is legally required to keep the child’s enrollment status intact. Therefore, the idea that taking a leave of absence “ruins” a child’s education has no basis in current policy. Exact implementation details vary by province; parents should contact the school’s academic affairs office or local education bureau for specifics.
Cost
No cost involved. Parents or other legal guardians must su…
Benefit
Article 16 of the “Administrative Measures for Student Enrollment Records of Primary and Secondary School Stud…
12Evidence B
If poor vision is detected, go to the hospital for cycloplegic refraction and follow up at the recommended intervals as advised by the doctor.
Cycloplegic refraction involves using special eye drops that relax the eye’s focusing muscles, allowing an accurate measurement of refractive errors. This test is performed in hospitals and is the most reliable method for diagnosing myopia. The Health Commission confirms these drops do not harm healthy eyes and that vision returns to normal after they wear off. Do not rely on quick computerized refraction tests at optical shops for diagnosis, and do not withhold glasses from children out of fear that it will worsen their myopia.
Cost
The examination and glasses fitting typically cost several…
Benefit
The “Ten Core Principles for Preventing and Controlling Myopia in Children and Adolescents” outlines how cyclo…
13Evidence A
Pit and fissure sealants applied after permanent molars emerge
Pit and fissure sealants essentially coat the grooves on the chewing surface of molars with a thin layer of resin, sealing them so food particles can’t get trapped. After 24 months, the likelihood of cavities drops dramatically compared to untreated teeth. For instance, if 16% of untreated children develop cavities on their molars, only about 5.2% of children with sealants do; when the untreated rate is 40%, the sealed group stays at roughly 6.25%. Overall, sealants cut cavity rates by 11% to 51% after two years, and this protective effect persists for up to four years.
Cost
Each application costs just a few dozen to 100–200 yuan. N…
Benefit
This conclusion comes from 38 separate trials involving 7,924 children aged 5 to 16, all vetted and pooled by…