Protect your child from eye diseases with these tips!

As a parent, taking care of your child’s eyes is one of the most important responsibilities you have. With that being said, here’s a list of tips on how to take care of your child’s eyes.

Do not rely on school screenings for your child’s eyes

Your child should be screened as early as six months old and should have follow-up screenings at three and five years old. Thereafter, a regular check up every year or after two years should be done to ensure your child’s healthy vision.

Though there are eye screenings in school, this may not be enough and some vision problems might not be detected right away through a simple and general screening.

Do not rely on your child’s opinion of his or her eyesight

Children most often have no idea what it is to have a normal vision or a blurred one especially if they have experienced it as an infant. They would most probably say that they see things clearly.

One can only find out if a child has eye problems when it is diagnosed by an eye doctor. So it is imperative for parents to bring their children for regular eye screening.

Do not expose your child to the sun without protection

Parents have become unmindful of the fact that exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays can increase the risk of cataracts. Thus, you should not allow your child to go out in the sun without sunglasses no matter how young your child is.

Buy a pair of sunglasses that has 100% UVA and UVB protection. In addition, let your child wear a wide-brimmed hat or use an umbrella whenever walking under the heat of the sun.

Do not immediately have your child undergo eye surgery to correct vision problems

There are parents who think that eye surgery can cure strabismus or squint eyes. However, only 20% of those who underwent eye surgery were able to achieve normal vision.

This shows that eye surgery does not guarantee correction of eye problems. Thus, parents should not hastily decide to have their child undergo eye surgery.

Protect your child from eye diseases with these tips!

After all that's said and done, if your child is complaining about his sight or if you see something wrong, don't push it aside and take care of it later. Go see a doctor immediately because when it comes to their eyes, it's always better safe than sorry.

Article originally published on: theAsianparent.com

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Written by

Raisa Tan

eye diseases. eye careEnglish