Seeing 20/20 About Your Children’s Eyesight
With September being Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month, consider these sobering facts: • 25% of children ages 5-17 have a vision problem, and yet ... • 79% have not visited an eye care provider in the past year and ... • 35% have never seen an eye care professional
Younger children are even less likely than teenagers to receive care for their eyes. Less than eight percent of children under six have visited an eye care provider, compared with about 33 percent of adolescents (ages 12-17). Children with undetected vision problems are often “slow learners” when all they need is the appropriate level of eye care.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends that children have their eyes checked at birth, between 6 months and a year old, between 3 and 3 1⁄2, and before entering first grade. After that, children and teenagers should have an eye screening whenever a problem is suspected.
For more information or a physician referral, call or visit us online.
Words: 165