COULD YOUR CHILD BE STRUGGLING WITH POOR EYESIGHT?

World Sight Day on 10 October is a reminder to make sure that they have the vision they need to live their best lives.

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Being able to see well is essential for everything from your child’s academic performance to their sports ability and social well-being. Yet impaired sight is the most common disability in South Africa, and the South African Optometric Association (SAOA) reports that more than 10 million children suffer with undetected problems, simply because they are not properly evaluated.

Keep an eye on your child’s vision, even if they’re just a baby. A newborn’s vision is grey and blurry, and they’re unable to focus on anything more than 20-30 centimetres away, but receptors and nerves in their eyes and brain develop rapidly, and by six months their colour and visual sharpness should be well developed. “They should be able to fixate on and follow objects like a small toy,” says Durban-based ophthalmic surgeon Dr Anine Kritzinger.

At around six months is when children should have their first eye examination – followed by another exam at age 3, then at 5 or 6 years old (just before they start school). After that they should ideally have one exam each year. The earlier a vision problem is detected and addressed, the better. Could your child be struggling with poor eyesight? World Sight Day on 10 October is a reminder to make sure that they have the vision they need to live their best lives.

In South Africa, under the school vision screenings programme, eye examinations are conducted in government schools during the first year of primary school (Grade R/1), and again in Grades 4 and 8, including children experiencing learning difficulties in any grade.

If your child is at an independent or private school, take them to an optometrist who can diagnose, treat and manage eye conditions, or refer them to an ophthalmologist, who is also trained to perform eye surgery.

KNOW THE TERMINOLOGY
Have your child assessed regularly for eye problems and look out for the most common signs of poor eyesight. There are several common vision problems, which include:

Short-sightedness:
The ability to see objects that are close but ones further away will appear blurry. A common sign that your child is short-sighted is scrunching up their eyes and leaning forward to see a blackboard in class or while watching TV. “Typically, they will put their faces very close to screens to be able to focus,” says Dr Kritzinger.

Long-sightedness:
Objects in the distance will be clear but closer objects will appear blurry. Your child will battle to focus when reading or writing. Another sign that they may be long-sighted is complaining of headaches and sore eyes, caused by eye strain. According to Dr Kritzinger, severe long-sightedness can result in one eye turning inwards (a squint), which will require correcting.

Astigmatism:
This indicates that the cornea is oblong instead of round, which means your child may not be able to see anything clearly. They may complain of headaches and eye strain.

Squinting:
Having eyes that don’t always both look in the same direction may run in families and affect one in 50 children, according to studies in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. A squint may also be due to trauma/injury, neurological problems, an eye muscle disorder or a brain tumour, and should be checked urgently. If a squint is not treated before the child is six years old, they can develop ‘lazy eye’ (amblyopia). “At age nine, a child will develop irreversible amblyopia – before age nine it is still treatable,” Dr Kritzinger says. “The sooner a squint is assessed and treated, the better.”

Lazy eye:
When one eye has different vision to the other, the brain chooses to turn off the sight in one eye to avoid seeing double. Untreated, this can lead to permanent vision problems in the eye that is ‘turned off’ or ‘lazy’. Lazy eye is not always easy to detect as a child often won’t notice and complain, but it may show as clumsiness.

SPEC-SAVERS HAS AN INITIATIVE CALLED ‘KIDS RIGHT TO GOOD SIGHT’ THAT OFFERS A FREE EYE EXAM, FRAMES AND LENSES FOR ALL CHILDREN AGED 6-12..

TREATMENT OPTIONS
Managing eye problems needs to be decided individually for each child, in consultation with an optometrist or ophthalmologist. Glasses, or contact lenses for older children, are the most prescribed treatment for short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism.

Spec-Savers has an initiative called ‘Kids Right to Good Sight’ that offers a free eye exam, frames and lenses for all children aged 6-12. “A child younger than six needing spectacles will need to have these prescribed by an ophthalmologist,” says Dr Krizinger. For progressive short-sightedness, specialised spectacles lenses and drops like atropine may be needed, she adds.

Corrective spectacles or contact lenses may be prescribed for ‘lazy eye’, and ‘occlusion patching’ may be advised by an ophthalmologist – patching the ‘good’ eye to allow the ‘lazy’ eye to develop better vision. For squinting, surgery may be necessary, along with vision therapy – exercises using prisms, filters, lenses and occluders.

HOW TO PREVENT EYE PROBLEMS
Don’t wait for eye problems to arise before taking it seriously - take steps now to protect your child’s eye health. 

You can do this by setting limits for screen time. “Allow no more than one hour of screen time a day,” advises Dr Kritzinger. “Screen time has been proven to worsen near-sightedness in children.” 

When they’re working on a computer, playing video games or watching a long movie, teach them to look away from the screen at least every 20 minutes and focus on a distant object for at least 20 seconds. 

Also encourage some easy eye exercises. Ask your child to: 

• focus on their finger as they slowly move it from near their face to further away; 

• draw imaginary figures of eight on the wall/floor in front of them by moving their eyes; 

• close their eyes tightly for three seconds, then open wide and blink several times – repeat for a minute and do this at intervals all day.

By: Glynis Horning
Photos: Gallo/Getty Images