"See it important" or "See it as important"?

I have encountered both. Which is (more) correct?

Examples of use:

I see it important to stay fit.

I see it as important to have education.

I tried searching google for it, but the results are inconclusive...

Solution 1:

I wouldn't say it's wrong, just unusual. Commonly heard are "I consider it important", I judge it important", "I deem it important", and I can't see any reason why you couldn't say "I see it important". It's just that people don't. They say "see it as important", "regard it as important". I don't know why one collection of verbs needs a following "as" and another doesn't. But go with common usage unless there are compelling reasons for doing otherwise.

Solution 2:

"I see it important" sounds very wrong to my ears. "I see it as important" sounds to me to be technically corrected, but overly stilted. If you're saying you view x as advisable, I would recommend "I find x important" or "I find it important to do/have x." Terpsichore's suggestions are good as well.

I can't offer you a formal reason why it's wrong, just that it doesn't sound or read well to me. Given that I'm not fond of "I see it as important" either, I'm tempted to say that's the combination of see and important that sounds wrong. (Contra: "I see it is important" sounds find to me).