Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month

August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month. Eye health has been shown to affect students’ development and learning abilities, meaning that good eye health is essential for kids as they head back to school.

Often, eye problems in children are treatable. However, they can be harder to fix as a child gets older. Therefore, it is important that childhood eye problems be caught early. Untreated eye problems can negatively impact a child’s development and learning, cause headaches, or make it difficult to concentrate in school and other activities.

–        Amblyopia: Otherwise known as “lazy eye,” this condition is caused by one eye not being able to focus as well as the other. This causes decreased vision in that eye. The condition can be short or long-term and can be successfully treated.

–        Strabismus: This is when the eyes are not properly aligned. This can cause people to look cross-eyed and have to squint in order to focus.

–        Myopia: otherwise known as nearsightedness, this condition makes it difficult to see objects that are far away. This can be fixed by wearing corrective lenses such as glasses or contacts.

–        Hyperopia: Also known as farsightedness, this condition makes it difficult to see objects that are nearby. This can also be treated by wearing corrective lenses.

Eye problems can develop in anyone, but some children may be at a higher risk for eye problems than others. These risks can include:

–        Premature birth

–        A family history of eye problems

–        Eye injury

When eye problems are diagnosed and dealt with early on, children have a decreased chance of experiencing eye problems later in life. Make sure your child receives regular eye exams so that any problems can be detected and treated as soon as possible.