They have been part of Chinese society for 49 years, but the usefulness of eye exercises have been questioned with the Ministry of Education calling for scientists to have a fresh look at the daily workout, Oriental Morning Post reported Wednesday.

Students do eye exercises in a school in Fuyang city, Anhui province, on Jan 5, 2011. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

A micro blog, widely reposted online, claimed, "Eye exercises have been harming China's youths for 49 years. Only the Chinese do this exercise and in the past 49 years, shortsighted youths have amounted to 360 million, ranking second in the world… Many children do it with dirty hands and thus cause eye diseases."

The post attracted lots of comments with many supporting the routine which is often carried out in schools and offices across the country. Others suggested the exercise is not only harmful but could also spread disease from the hands.

One micro-blogger said, "My eyes are well protected by doing the exercise and my eyesight is still over 5.0."

Another said, "It's not solid to say that it's useless. But it was true that I used to do it without washing hands in advance and germs got into my eyes. "

Early in 2007, Chinese scholar Fang Zhouzi, nicknamed the "science cop", questioned the usefulness of eye exercises, saying it has no scientific foundation, and may even be harmful.

An official at the Ministry of Education confirmed they are soliciting expert opinion and will give a reply as soon as possible.

The official added they had no idea of the effectiveness of eye exercises in the past due to lack of investigation.

Zhu Jianfeng, an expert with Shanghai Eye Disease Prevention and Treatment Center, said, "A sample survey conducted between 2009 and 2011 showed eye exercises are helpful in short term eyesight recovery and in relieving eye fatigue."