This guide is meant to inform parents about children’s eye health during the school year. It contains facts, tips and pointers on the best ways to maintain your child’s good eye health.
Let’s get right into it!
BACK TO SCHOOL EYE HEALTH CHECKLIST:
Book a comprehensive eye exam for your child
Book an eye exam to establish a vision health benchmark at the start of the school year. As a parent, it’s important to stay informed about the the state of your child’s eye health and our job as doctors of optometry is, not only to thoroughly evaluate your child’s eye health, but also to create a record of his or her vision development as part of the continuum of care.
What’s the difference between a comprehensive eye exam and a visual screening?
- A Comprehensive Eye Exam assesses the ocular medical history (including family history and potential allergy related problems), eye coordination, eye health evaluation (including fluid pressure and dilated internal eye exams) and refraction or visual acuity testing
- Visual Screenings can indicate the presence of vision problems and the need to see an Optometrist but are not substitutes for comprehensive eye exams
Learn About Protecting the Eyes from Digital Strain
Kids don’t realize when they are experiencing eye strain and often times, neither do parents. The tools we use at work and at school have changed drastically over the last few years. Subsequently, this has caused a high occurrence of what’s known as digital eye strain.
- What is digital eye strain?
According to The Vision Council, digital eye strain is the physical discomfort felt after two or more hours in front of a digital screen and is associated with the close to mid-range distance of digital screens, including desktop and laptop computers, tablets, e-readers and cell phones..Sound familiar?The majority of Canadians experience the eye fatigue or blurred vision associated with digital eye strain on a daily basis. Since children are not yet fully developed, it can be worse for them.
Additionally, with wifi enabled classrooms and schools encouraging children to bring their own devices for learning purposes, children are consuming more technology than ever before. In fact, a 2014 MediaSmart study shows one in four Canadian children, ages nine and ten, has his or her own cell phone. And a 2013 Common Sense report indicates that American children 8 and under spend an average of 2 hours a day in front of a screen. Since children are still developing, encouraging a reduced amount of technology consumption is encouraged to reduce the amount of digital eye strain they can experience.
- What to do about digital eye strain?
- The 20-20-20 Rule: Every 20 minutes take a 20 second break by focusing your eyes on something that is at least 20 feet away
- Blink More: Blinking keeps your eyes lubricated and when people are staring at a screen for a prolonged period of time, they tend not to blink as often.
- See An Optometrist to ensure your are not straining your eyes even more when working on a computer by not wearing the right glasses
Stay tuned for part 2 of this post coming up next! From all of us at Beyond Vision, thanks for letting us be a part of your health!
Resources:
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/smartphone-tablet-overuse-among-toddlers-may-stunt-development-1.294084
- http://www.thevisioncouncil.org/content/digital-eye-strain
