Objective To investigate the effect of different astigmatisms on emmetropization and amblyopia. Methods Retrospective case series study. Two hundred and fifty-eight eyes of 138 children were divided into 3 groups: a normal control group (107 eyes) and an astigmatism group 1 (85 eyes) and group 2 (66 eyes) according to their degree of astigmatism.Refractive status and visual acuity (VA) were measured and compared at the beginning and at 1,2, 3, 4 and 5 years. Astigmatism was measured and compared at the beginning and end. Results Refractive status: the normal control group and the astigmatism group 1 had a significant decrease in refractive status at 1, 2 and 3 years (P＜0.05 for both). Astigmatism group 2 had a significant decrease in refractive status every year (F=24.65, P＜0.05). No significant differences were found in refractive status when the normal control and the astigmatism group 1 were compared at corresponding times. Significant differences were found in years 4 and 5 between the astigmatism group 2 and the other two groups. Visual acuity: the normal control and astigmatism group 1 had a significant improvement in visual acuity in years 1 and 2; there was a significant improvement in year 1 in the astigmatism group 2. The intergroup results for corresponding times were not statistically significant for the normal control and astigmatism group 1. There was a statistically significant difference between astigmatism groups 2 and 1, and between group 2 and the normal group in years 2, 3, 4 and 5.The amount of astigmatism decreased significantly in the astigmatism group 2 between the first and last check-ups (t=3.1440, P=0.021). Conclusion Astigmatism≥ 1.0 D is found to accelerate emmetropization. But amblyopia could not be completely cured. Astigmatism＜1.0 D has no influence on emmetropization and amblyopia.