Children's Optometrists Juneau AK

by Tony Chen

Is it me or are our lives being dominated by looking at screens? Screens of all types – TV screens, computer screens, cell phone screens. The other day, we went to some big dinner gathering and I will never forget that moment when all 10 kids were hovered around 3 cell phone screens. (Pathetic? Maybe so, and that’s a topic for another day.) In these days of looking at lots of screens, it’s also a good time to revisit some basic things to take care of your kids’ eyes.

Based on some great resources from the American Optometric Association , here’s some great tips for us dads to keep our kids’ eyes sharp and strong.

Infants:

The main thing during the early years is to provide age-appropriate stimulation. Mobiles and other objects around the crib. Books. Stories. All the stuff that you probably are doing now – just keep doing it and mix it up when you can. Also, don’t forget to get an initial check-up with an optometrist at about the 1-year mark. The main things to look out for in this age: excessive tearing, excessive eye-rubbing, lots of crusties, lots of redness, oversensitivity to light, and the appearance of a white pupil.

2-5 year olds:

This is the age when kids are fine-tuning their visual abilities and counting on their eyes to all the learning that’s going on. Keep providing age-appropriate stimulation: catch, books, and memory games. In fact, here’s a whole list of various games & suggestions that also help build their vision.

According to public health statistics, approximately 10% of all kids this age will experience some sort of vision issue. But understandably, most of them will not vocalize it. So, it’s up to us to keep an eye out (sorry, couldn’t resist). If you notice any of the following, contact your eye doctor:

• Sitting close to the TV or holding a book too close
• Squinting
• Tilting their head
• Frequently rubbing their eyes
• Short attention span for 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

6-18 year olds

Think about this – about 80% of everything a child learns will come through her eyes. In addition, vision problems for this age group may potentially lead to other issues in school. Some vision problems may have the same symptoms as ADHD. Other vision problems will cause kids to avoid homework or other activities that are visually challenging for them. Or they may try to engage in the activity but become frustrated and literally get headaches.

Kids may not realize they even have a vision problem – they see the world that way and figure everyone else does, too. So, for this age group, here are some things to look out for:

• Frequent eye rubbing or blinking
• Short attention span
• Avoiding reading and other close activities
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