Abstract The visual health of children and adolescents in China has become a major issue that is relevant to the nation s present and its future. This article analyzed the value of map reading and searching for specific features during orienteering projects for myopia prevention and control. The findings suggest that orienteering exercises show good regulatory effects on eye muscles, effectively improve concentration, and help to stimulate mental activity and visual system. Targeted exercises, including scanning maps for specific features, is beneficial for myopia prevention and control. It is proposed that, by changing the teaching style of cross-country orienteering, teaching space, and teaching scene, exercises can be tailored to treat and relieve eye strain, as well as to prevent and control myopia, which is essential to promote the visual health of children and adolescents.