Children are susceptible to several vision problems. However, treating these problems at a young age can prevent life-long vision impairment.

Along with in-school vision screenings and exams at the pediatrician’s office, parents play an important role in keeping their kids’ eyes healthy.

• Watch for signs like squinting, excessive blinking or head tilting, which could indicate a vision problem
• Check your child’s eyes for any unusual movement, discoloration, swelling, unequal pupil size or misalignment as well as persistent tearing, discharge or redness
• Take complaints of headaches and eye pain seriously and mention them during your next visit to the pediatrician
• Be aware of your child’s ability to discern colors or objects and alert your pediatrician of any concerns

The vision problems that strike children generally fall into two categories: pre-existing or congenital conditions and vision problems stemming from eye injuries.

Refractive errors like myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism involve irregularities in the shape of the eyeball itself and cause images to be imprecisely focused on the retina. These problems are usually solved with corrective lenses.

Other eye problems can be even more serious.

Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision loss of children (at a rate of 2 – 4 percent of the general children’s population). Reduced vision is the result of poor stimulation of an eye. The condition is most often related to a misalignment of the eye (strabismus) or abnormal optics of the eye (anisometropia). Outwardly, eyes with amblyopia often appear to be completely normal. Complicating the problem is that children older than six years are less likely to be treated successfully. Therefore, it is even more important that a screening is provided to detect any potential problems as early as possible.

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