Kids Vision Care- Be Preventive!

Our esteemed colleague, Andrea Thau, OD, FCOVD was recently interviewed by CBSNews.com, and wanted to share it with you and your members. These tips are cruical to ensuring that all children have healthy and adequate vision. We will share some of the tips below, but to view the full article, click here.

 

This article stresses the American Optometric Association’s guidelines for children’s eye examinations taking place on the following schedule:

  • By age 1
COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAMINATIONS

The NYC Eye Care Guide: Tips & Resources For Parents

  • Age 3
  • Age 5
  • Every 1-2 years thereafter

The article also acknowledges the InfantSEE program. Please note on your calendars that Family Vision Care will hold our Annual InfantSEE Week during May 9-13. This is a great opportunity for new parents to have their 6-12 month old infants’ vision checked.

We are available to provide in-services for teachers, parents and other professionals, which include:

  • Infant Vision: What Can Your Baby See?
  • How to Prepare for your First Eye Exam
  • Tips for Preparing Your Child’s Vision for School
  • Eye Safety

E-mail us at visiontherapy@familyvisioncare.org to schedule or for more information.

 

 
Protect Your Child’s Vision

The article includes tips for protecting your child’s vision.

 

“You don’t want to take your child’s vision for granted”, says Dr. Thau. There are many steps parents can take to protect their children’s vision throughout childhood.

 

Get Outdoors! Studies show that children who play more outdoor sports have better vision, because being outdoors forces our eyes to focus on things both near and far. Too much time spent looking at things close up (computers, television, etc.) limits eyesight development.

Give it a Rest! Children often spend long periods of time looking at the computer, television and games. To prevent vision problems, teach your children to follow the 20-20-20 rule: For every 20 minutes of working or playing with items that are near, take a 20 second break to look something 20 feet away.

UV Protection. We have finally learned to slather our children’s skin with sunscreen to protect it from harmful UV rays. Now, we need to apply that wisdom to their eyes as well. Accumulation of damage from UV rays can lead to vision problems and disease later in life. So, outfitting your children with sunglasses or a baseball hat will go a long way toward prevention.

the parenting magazine The NYC Eye Care Guide: Tips & Resources For Parents

We hope you find this information beneficial. Please forward this to your friends and family members to help spread the word about children’s vision.

Thanks to Dr. Carole Hong for her updates as well.

By Dr. Lynn Hellerstein, a Colorado Optometrist in Vision Therapy

 

 

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