Tips for parents protecting their child’s eyesight

Not only is August the month of hot days and school shopping, but for the past decade it’s also been Child Eye Health And Safety Month, a time to observe the health of your children’s eyes. Here are seven tips to ease the stress and yet make certain your child’s eyes are in good shape:

Stay up-to-date with screen time research

Traditionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics has suggested that children over age 2 watch less than one or two hours of television daily. In October 2014, the academy debated its recommendations. In an article published in Slate, Lisa Guernsey of the New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative, says, “Let’s face it: Raising children turns our hair gray no matter what. But at least it moves us from a ‘no screen time’ recommendation, that few parents abide, toward ‘mindful screen time’ in today’s media-manic world.”

Get your child’s eyes examined regularly

According to Prevent Blindness, an organization dedicated to educating the public about eye health, parents should first network with friends, relatives, and co-workers to find eye doctors good with children. “The best thing to have is good information,” says Dr. Steven E. Brooks, chief of pediatric ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan. Just before your child’s appointment, prepare questions for the eye doctor and bring a teddy bear or other toy along.

Protect your child’s eyes from the sun

Make sure that your child uses sunscreen. Encourage the use of sunglasses that block excess ultraviolet, or UV, rays.

Sports and eye safety go together

Whether your child plays basketball or prefers skateboarding, emphasize the wearing of safety eyewear.

Get your kids active

If your child’s a little couch potato or video-game fan, encourage him to be physically active. TV time is not connected to blindness, but researchers have found a connection between TV or computer time, called “close work,” and nearsightedness. Less close work, and more time playing, can reduce the risk of causing or worsening nearsightedness, as well as maintain a normal body mass index.

Emphasize nutrition

In addition to making your child play, feed him nutritious food. Excess sugar, salt, and fat can lead to obesity, hardening of the heart’s arteries, and elevated blood pressure, factors in poor eye health. Structuring a diet to prevent diabetes also will have an influence on your children’s health as he grows older. Diabetes can damage vision.

Special attention for a special-needs child

If your child has such conditions as Down syndrome, developmental delay and juvenile arthritis, Brooks suggests setting up appointments with pediatric ophthalmology specialists. Children with special needs disproportionately suffer from eye problems.

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“I’m an advocate of children receiving high-quality vision care,” says Brooks. “Appropriate attention to safety is always important to make sure preventable injuries are prevented … annual evaluations of vision are important to detect vision problems early, but also to raise awareness.”

Regular eye checkups benefit children whether eye problems are detected or not. For conditions such as strabismus, or crossed eyes, pediatric ophthalmologists have effective treatments, such as applying demecarium bromide, or injecting Botox into affected eye muscles. Even if your child’s eye health is normal, regular checkups encourage good eye care. Children see their eye health as important as dental health or fitness. Check out Eye Spy (http://eyespy.preventblindness.org/index.php), a free, educational website with age-appropriate information on eye anatomy and how the eye works, as well as eye safety.

Also check out the National Center for Family Professional Partnership website (www.fv-ncfpp.org/index.php?cID=567). It has valuable resources concerning eye health for children on the autistic spectrum, as well as resources for parents of children with vision impairment.

This August, do more than stay cool and prepare your child for the school year. Protect your child’s sight and allow him to see every day well.