The kick off of a new academic school year is by far the best time to have your children’s eyesight checked.
As a matter of fact, once back to their school desks, kids will have to grapple with books, tablets and computers, and listen to their teachers for hours while looking at the blackboard at the same time.
This is the reason why it is hugely important that parents make sure that their children have the best vision possible in order to further their comprehension and performance at school.

It is estimated that 1 out of 4 school-aged children are affected by vision problems. Detecting children’s vision problems in the early stages largely increases the chances of getting the issues resolved quickly because of the high responsiveness to treatment by children in their early years.
The worst enemies of children’s vision are nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness, and astigmatism. 

The best time to have your child's eyes examined

According to a research of the Commissione Difesa Vista (CDV – Commission Defense Vision), about 70% of Italian parents do not consider eye examination something strictly necessary for their kids, showing lack of knowledge as well as poor sensitivity towards vision issues. Nevertheless, the American Optometric Association (AOA) recommends that infants have their first comprehensive eye examination as early as 6 months of age. After that, a second eye examination should take place at age of 3 and a third one right before entering the primary school at age 5 or 6.

From that point onward, children should have an eye examination every 2 years unless they use eyeglasses or contact lenses since in that case they should be examined annually or as frequently as recommended by an ophthalmologist.

Good vision for a better comprehension and performance at school

Many parents have not realized yet that there exists a strong and positive relation between having a good vision and quality of the comprehension and performance of their beloved kids at school. Furthermore, vision affects attention and concentration at school as well as physical posture, which is one of the first wake-up call for vision problems. Eye examination in school age is even more important in the event that one of the parents or grandparents has a vision problem since myopia, astigmatism and farsightedness are inheritable. Even though some children already wear eyeglasses or contact lenses, they may need to have updated lenses since after some time, their prescription may have changed and they may simply not be aware of that. That’s why parents need to make sure that their children have their vision checked.

After all, a child who is unable to clearly view a blackboard may get easily frustrated, and this feeling may lead him/her to poor academic performance since his/her spring days at school. In addition, not only are vision problems best treated and corrected as early as possible, but should they not be tackled in the early age, chances are they may also worsen rapidly later on.

Beware of blue light at school

Particular attention must be given to the presence of blue light emitted by electronic devices. The good news is that nowadays there are ophthalmic lenses able to select this frequency.

Hints and tips

Parents should look for the signs rolled out below and if they find at least one of them they should take their children to an ophthalmologist:

• they tilt their head to see better
• children hold their books very close to their eyes or sit very close to the TV
• they rub their eyes often
• they often squint to view an object

All of these vision problems negatively affect the abilities of children at school in terms of attention, comprehension as well as their general performance. At the same time, their vision issues will be best treated if detected and corrected at young age while the child’s vision system is still developing.