Click on links below depending on what you need to know...
- 25 Things To Buy Before Your Baby is Born
- What To Expect During Your First Trimester of Pregnancy
- What To Expect During Your Second Trimester of Pregnancy
The Importance of Early Childhood Vision Screening
.
(NewsUSA) – School-age children receive regular vision screenings, but childhood blindness can start long before elementary school. Early detection makes treatments more effective, so parents should have their children’s vision checked in preschool.
Ambylopia, or lazy eye, is one of the most common disorders detected in young children. Lazy eye, which occurs when one eye is significantly stronger than the other, affects two to three of every 100 children. If left untreated, the weaker eye tends to wander inward or outward, leading to permanent vision impairment.
Any factor that causes eyes to blur, cross or turn out can lead to lazy eye. The most common cause is strabismus, a muscle imbalance that prevents eyes from coordinating their movements. Congenital problems, like cataracts or oddly shaped eyes, can also lead to lazy eye.
Most of the time, conservative treatments like corrective eyewear, eye patches or eye drops can fix lazy eye. Droopy eyes, crossed eyes or eyes that are fixed outward might require surgical correction. Treatments typically start improving vision after a few weeks or months — if the problem is caught early in life.
Some programs aim to screen young children for vision problems. For example, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) established a preschool vision screening program in 1999. Trained volunteers screen children ages one through five. If they see a problem, the volunteers refer the child to an eye doctor.
So far, Lions volunteers have screened 1 million children in the United States and Taiwan. Volunteers refer about 6 percent of the children they see. Of those, approximately 65 percent have a vision disorder that can cause lazy eye.
Parents need to schedule eye screenings. Newborns should have their eyes examined at every wellness visit. Children with a family history of vision impairment, either childhood or adult, should see an eye specialist by 18 months. By age 3, all children should see an eye specialist on a regular basis.
