To analyze the current situation of household illuminance among preschool children in Kunshan City, and to explore the relationships between caregiver characteristics, parents’ educational levels, parents’ myopia status, and compliance with household illuminance standards.

A total of 1 512 preschool children from 8 kindergartens in Kunshan City were selected as the research subjects, and data such as the characteristics of caregivers, parents’ educational levels, and myopia status were collected. The TES-1332A illuminance meter was used to measure the illuminance of each space in the home in a standardized manner, and the χ² test was adopted to analyze the impact of different factors on compliance with household illuminance standards.

The illuminance in most family spaces did not meet the standards. The compliance rates from highest to lowest were bedroom 59.09% (468/792), study desk 39.42% (203/515), living room tabletop 24.07% (156/648), dining room tabletop 20.23% (121/598), living room 17.59% (155/881), bedroom tabletop 15.43% (50/324), and dining room 8.91% (70/786). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that after multivariable adjustment, caregiver type, caregiver and parental educational levels, and parental myopia status remained significantly associated with compliance with household illuminance standards. Compared with other caregivers, parental care was associated with increased compliance rates for bedroom and dining room tabletop illuminance, serving as a protective factor for qualified household illuminance in the above areas (bedroom: OR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.07-2.06, P=0.019; dining room tabletop: OR=1.93, 95% CI: 1.13-3.29, P=0.017). In terms of educational level, taking caregivers with senior high school education or below as the reference group, caregivers with a college degree or above were correlated with the increased compliance rate of illuminance in bedrooms and dining room tabletop, which were identified as protective factors (bedroom: OR=1.56, 95% CI: 1.15-2.12, P=0.004; dining room tabletop: OR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.04-2.67, P=0.033). With parents having senior high school education or below as the reference, parental education of college degree or above was associated with higher compliance rate of bedroom illuminance and acted as a protective factor for qualified bedroom illuminance (OR=2.29, 95% CI: 1.32-3.99, P=0.014). In addition, compared with children of non-myopic parents, children with both myopic parents showed a higher compliance rate of living room tabletop illuminance, and bilateral parental myopia was a protective factor for qualified living room tabletop illuminance (OR=1.90, 95%CI: 1.09-3.33, P=0.038).

Overall compliance with household illuminance standards among preschool children in Kunshan City is relatively poor, and it is closely related to caregiver characteristics, parental education level and parental myopia status. Improving the family lighting environment, especially carrying out targeted interventions for high-risk families, may help in the prevention and control of childhood myopia.