Critical Vision Consulting: An Optometry Blog

Three tips for keeping your child's eyes healthy

22 November 2017

Enni Marttila

There are a number of steps you can take to keep your child's eyes healthy. Read on to find out more.

Have their eyes examined regularly

One of the most effective ways to ensure that your child's eyes remain healthy is to bring them to your optometrist for an eye examination at least once a year.

This examination will give your optometrist the opportunity to check your child's eyesight for signs of long or short-sightedness, amblyopia (otherwise known as 'lazy eye') and other eye conditions. This, in turn, will enable them to provide (where necessary) treatment that will restore and protect your child's vision.

They may, for example, recommend prescription glasses, or a temporary eye patch (for the treatment of the aforementioned 'lazy eye).

If your child already wears glasses, their annual visits to the optometrist will ensure that their prescription can be adjusted if their eyesight is found to have worsened or improved.

Take them in for a check-up if you notice changes

It is important to monitor your child's eye health and to take them to your optometrist for a check-up as soon as you discover any changes, as these changes could be an indication of a new eye condition.

For example, if your child squints when watching television and has complained to you about not being able to read the text written on the blackboard at school, this could mean that they have become short-sighted.

Conversely, if their eyes look bloodshot and they often develop headaches after reading or playing on the computer for long periods, they may be long-sighted (as headaches and bloodshot eyes are often a sign of eye strain).

In these situations, it is important not to wait until your child's next routine annual eye exam to have their eyes checked but to instead take them to an optometrist immediately. This will ensure that their eyesight problems do not continue to have a negative impact on their ability to read, write or perform well at school.

Protect their eyes from UV rays

The sun's UV rays can be particularly harmful to the eye's of young children; this is because the lens of their eye is not yet fully developed and cannot, therefore, prevent the sun's rays from reaching and damaging their retina.

Frequent exposure to UV rays at a young age can increase a child's risk of developing cataracts and other eye conditions when they reach adulthood.

As such, it is extremely important to protect your child's eyes from UV rays. This can be done by making them wear sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat when they spend time outdoors on sunny days.

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