Why is children’s eyecare important?

How is the kids’ half term almost here again? This means there’s no better time than now to think about how you can prioritise your child’s vision and eye health. Regular eye tests are crucial to ensuring your child’s vision is the best it can be – read on to learn why your kid’s eye test is so important.

The importance of looking after your kid’s eyes

With more than a million children in the UK alone going to school with an undiagnosed vision problem, it’s important to take care of your child’s eyes and eye health starting from a young age. Being able to see properly is important for their growth and development, enabling them to reach their full potential in school, sports and socially.

In fact, 80% of a child’s learning is done visually, meaning poor eyesight can have a significant impact on their experience at school. As their eyes still develop throughout early childhood, treating problems as early as possible can make a huge difference.

Children under 16 are entitled to an annual NHS eye test, however, our expert optometrists will always advise you on how often your child needs to be seen after they have seen them and ensure you get a reminder for their next appointment ahead of time.

Children’s eye exams not only check their vision but also include a comprehensive eye health check too – something which vision screenings at school don’t offer.

Signs your child may have eye problems

Many children may not even realise they have a vision problem as they assume that what they see is normal and don’t always communicate to let you as a parent, or their schoolteacher know what they are seeing.

Some common children’s eye problems include short-sightedness, which is when they struggle to see things at a distance, long-sightedness, which is when they have trouble seeing clearly with close-up tasks like reading, lazy eye, clinically known as amblyopia, which is when vision in one eye doesn’t develop properly, and a squint (known as strabismus), which is when the eyes point in different directions.

Amblyopia and strabismus are childhood eye conditions that need to be treated as early on as possible to avoid carrying any permanent effects into adulthood.

Some signs your child may be struggling to see clearly or that they are experiencing an eye problem include:

• an eye appearing to drift inwards or outwards
• trouble concentrating
• sitting close to digital screens or the board to see them clearly
• behavioural problems
• frequent headaches
• constant eye rubbing
• struggling to read

Looking after your child’s eyes

In addition to regular eye exams, you can keep on top of your child’s vision and eye health by ensuring their prescription is updated if they wear glasses, making sure they eat nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, making sure they wear sunglasses when outdoors to protect their eyes from UV damage, and ensuring they wear protective eyewear when playing contact sports, or when swimming.

Contact us

With half-term coming up, this is definitely the best time to book your kid’s eye test and get glasses they’ll love to wear from our wide selection at our opticians in Corbridge to ensure they’re ready to tackle the rest of the school year with clear vision and confidence!