August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month – the perfect time to focus on protecting your family’s eyesight and to talk to your doctor about any problems.
You can do a lot to protect your child’s developing vision. Read on to learn how to help your child see the bright future they have ahead.
Your child’s vision helps them take in the world around them. But it also plays an important role in their development. If your child has an uncorrected vision problem, it may affect their ability to learn and reach their highest potential. Having a routine eye exam is important to keep their eyes healthy.
Although both are important, a vision screening and an eye exam are not the same thing.
- A vision screeningis an evaluation used to identify the children in need for additional eye care. It can be done by a family doctor, pediatrician, school nurse or other healthcare professional.
- A comprehensive eye exam is a thorough exam done by an eye doctor — a specialist called an ophthalmologist or optometrist. The eye doctor can diagnose your child’s medical or vision problem and provide treatment.
If you have any concerns about your child’s vision, ask their pediatrician to help you find an eye doctor. Early detection and treatment are key to protecting your child’s vision.
Tips for Protecting Your Child’s Vision
Eye exams at every age and life stage can help keep your vision strong. Take care of your vision health, just as you take care of the rest of your body — and help your child do the same. Your child’s vision health affects how well they can see, learn and enjoy life.
You can help your child follow these tips to protect their eyes and their developing vision:
- Eat well: Eating a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help protect your child’s vision. Fruits and vegetables have many vitamins and minerals necessary to maintain healthy eyes and vision. Remember, your kids look up to you. If you include healthy foods on your plate, you’ll be a role model they can follow.
- Limit screen time: Increased screen time can make uncorrected vision problems worse. Limiting screen time each day and having your child take frequent breaks when using any type of digital device will help to protect their vision. Taking frequent breaks is also a good habit to have when doing other kinds of near-vision activities, such as reading, writing or drawing.
- Get enough sleep: As we sleep, our bodies heal and recharge. This includes our eyes. Not getting enough sleep can affect how well your child’s eyes heal from everyday eye strain and irritants in the environment — like dry air, allergens and pollutants.
- Spend time outdoors: Many children spend hours each day doing near-vision activities. Just like other muscles in the body, the muscles in the eyes need time to relax. Going outdoors allows their eyes to look at objects in the distance, which gives their eyes a chance to recover from eye strain and fatigue. Playing outdoors also helps kids be physically active, get essential vitamin D from the sun and improve their social skills.
- Wear sunglasses: Spending time outdoors has many health benefits, but you must also protect your child’s eyes from the sun. Exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays over time can be harmful to the eyes. For the best protection, make sure your child wears sunglasses that have 100% UV protection.
- Use protective eyewear: About 90% of eye injuries can be prevented with protective eyewear. Whether they’re on the basketball court, in chemistry class or sitting by the pool, make sure they wear protective eyewear to avoid serious eye injuries.
- Get regular eye exams: When your child gets regular eye exams, their eye doctor can follow their vision at every stage of development. If anything changes, the doctor will be able to treat and manage your child’s vision quickly.
Hally® Links – and More
- Watch this very short video about eye exams for your kids, from our friends at Springfield Clinic.
- Worried about pink eye? Here’s information you should know, from Memorial Health.
- To learn more about protecting the whole family’s eyes from the summer sun, check out our article with info and tips.