Keeping Kids’ Eyes Healthy

Your child’s sight is precious.

Good vision helps them to learn, play and communicate with the world around them. Yet there are more than a million children in the UK with undetected vision problems*

Children’s eyes continue to develop until they reach the age of eight, so caring for a child’s eyes in the early years can help lay the foundations for good vision that lasts a lifetime.

There are lots of simple things that you can do to help keep kids’ eyes and vision healthy.

Essential Eye Checks

Having regular eye tests – annually for under eights and every two years thereafter (unless you’re advised otherwise by the optometrist) is a great place to start.

Eye tests will ensure any problems such as childhood conditions like squint and amblyopia (lazy eye) and myopia (short-sightedness) are picked up early.

The sooner problems are identified the better the treatment outcome. Remember eye tests are free on the NHS for all children under 16 years of age.

Eat a rainbow

Eating a rainbow of colourful fruit and vegetables helps ensure young eyes get the nutrients they need to grow healthily.

Foods like tomatoes, melon, grapes and blueberries as well as fish, chicken, eggs and whole grains are packed with eye-friendly nutrients.

Be safe in the sun

It is also really important to protect your child’s eyes from the sun.

When you’re young the lens at the front of the eye is really clear and lets more of the damaging sunlight inside.

Help to keep kids’ eyes protected from the sun by ensuring they wear sunglasses with a CE, UV400 or British Standard Mark, especially when the UV index rises to three or more. Avoid toy sunglasses which offer little UV protection and can actually cause more damage because they actually allow more UV to enter the eyes. Wear or hat, cap or visor for added protection. And most importantly, don’t let you child look directly at the sun as this can cause irreversible damage.

To make a start on keeping your child’s eyes healthy, why not book an eye test this half term at Pybus Opticians in Canterbury!

Call us on 01227 760501 or request an appointment using the form below.

*Eye Health UK