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Healthy Vision in Preschoolers
Parents of young children already have plenty to worry about: immunizations, nutrition, child care, toilet training and many other concerns. All of a sudden a lot of attention is being directed at the vision of infants and toddlers.
It seems that many parents are being told that their young children should start wearing eyeglasses and even start vision training. Is it really something to worry about? Some young children certainly benefit from having an abnormal refractive error corrected, but for many families it is an expensive and unwarranted decision.
It's important for parents to know that the child's eye develops rapidly. It reaches adult size by the fifth birthday. For the same reason the focusing power of the preschooler's eye changes continuously.
Most healthy babies are farsighted (hyperopic), probably because the eye is still relatively small. Most young children do not need eyeglasses or vision training to see clearly because they have abundant accommodation that automatically provides the necessary focusing power. As the child matures the eye approaches adult size and the hyperopia goes away. Some experts suggest that early eyeglasses may actually hinder normal development.
Well, how can a parent decide whether or not their child has an eye problem? The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) advocates early vision screening. Here is a summary of their recommendations:
= Vision screening programs should provide widespread, effective testing of preschool and early school-age children.
= All infants by six months to one year of age should be screened for ocular health including a red reflex test by a properly trained health care provider such as an ophthalmologist, pediatrician, family physician, nurse, or physician assistant during routine well-baby follow-up visits.
= Further screening examinations should be done at routine school checks or after the appearance of symptoms. Routine comprehensive professional eye examination of the normal asymptomatic child has no proven medical benefit.
Click here to review the complete policy statement.
Fortunately, most vision problems in young children are correctable with prompt therapy: glasses, eyedrops, prisms, patching, perhaps eye muscle surgery. Intuition usually compels worried parents to get their children the help they need.
If anyone recommends spectacles or vision training for your preschool child consider verifying the findings with a pediatric eye specialist, a pediatric ophthalmologist.
Related Topics: Never Too Late to Treat Kids with Lazy Eye, Your Baby's Vision
Technorati Tags: babyvision, childeyeexam, eyeglasses
It seems that many parents are being told that their young children should start wearing eyeglasses and even start vision training. Is it really something to worry about? Some young children certainly benefit from having an abnormal refractive error corrected, but for many families it is an expensive and unwarranted decision.
It's important for parents to know that the child's eye develops rapidly. It reaches adult size by the fifth birthday. For the same reason the focusing power of the preschooler's eye changes continuously.
Most healthy babies are farsighted (hyperopic), probably because the eye is still relatively small. Most young children do not need eyeglasses or vision training to see clearly because they have abundant accommodation that automatically provides the necessary focusing power. As the child matures the eye approaches adult size and the hyperopia goes away. Some experts suggest that early eyeglasses may actually hinder normal development.
Well, how can a parent decide whether or not their child has an eye problem? The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) advocates early vision screening. Here is a summary of their recommendations:
= Vision screening programs should provide widespread, effective testing of preschool and early school-age children.
= All infants by six months to one year of age should be screened for ocular health including a red reflex test by a properly trained health care provider such as an ophthalmologist, pediatrician, family physician, nurse, or physician assistant during routine well-baby follow-up visits.
= Further screening examinations should be done at routine school checks or after the appearance of symptoms. Routine comprehensive professional eye examination of the normal asymptomatic child has no proven medical benefit.
Click here to review the complete policy statement.
Fortunately, most vision problems in young children are correctable with prompt therapy: glasses, eyedrops, prisms, patching, perhaps eye muscle surgery. Intuition usually compels worried parents to get their children the help they need.
If anyone recommends spectacles or vision training for your preschool child consider verifying the findings with a pediatric eye specialist, a pediatric ophthalmologist.
Related Topics: Never Too Late to Treat Kids with Lazy Eye, Your Baby's Vision
Technorati Tags: babyvision, childeyeexam, eyeglasses
