We all know how important children’s eye health is, but keeping your child’s eyes safe is another thing. Even though we are with our kids 24 hours a day now, because of covid 19, we know how easy it is for kids to be fidgety, want to be with their friends and simply go out to play. But be aware, according to yoursightmatters.com, eye injuries are the leading cause of vision loss in children. There are about 42,000 sports-related eye injuries every year in America, and children suffer most of these injuries. Help prevent your child from being one of the more than 12 million children who suffer from vision impairment by remembering a few basic rules of safety:
- All children should wear protective eyewear while participating in sports or recreational activities
- Purchase age-appropriate toys for your children and avoid toys with sharp or protruding parts (Source: HAP.org)
Safety isn’t the only way to help your child’s eye health. The end of summer is upon us and that means back to school. Although we don’t know what that will look like during the pandemic, we still want to ensure our children stay healthy. That means healthy eyes too. Getting regular eye exams will detect refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. Your child’s eye doctor can also help detect lazy eye, crossed eyes, drooping of the eyelid, and color blindness. You, at home, can also help by noticing any of these warning signs. They could indicate your child’s vision needs further examination. These include:
- Sitting close to the TV or holding a book too close
- Squinting
- Tilting their head
- Frequent rubbing of the eyes
- Short attention span (dependent on the child’s age)
- Turning of an eye in or out
- Sensitivity to light
- Difficulty with eye-hand-body coordination when playing ball or bike riding
- Avoiding coloring activities, puzzles and other detailed activities
- Disinterest in reading or viewing distant objects
- Poor school performance – even in a pre-school environment
Our activities may have changed this year, but we hope you and your kids continue to stay safe. Use coupon code AUG2020 during the month of August to receive a 10% discount on the 3 products below
