Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month

August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month!  This month highlights the importance of eye care for children. The goal is to provide parents, caregivers, and teachers with the information needed to help their children maintain healthy vision.

Read on as an Oxnard, CA optometrist talks about Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month and why children’s eye health is so important.

How Did Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month Come About?

Each year, nearly 2 million children in the United States are diagnosed with some kind of vision issue, and while most cases are treatable, they can also lead to permanent damage if left untreated. It’s important to remember that kids’ eyes are still developing, so now is the time to take steps to ensure that your child’s eyesight stays healthy throughout their lifetime.

Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month is an annual observance in the United States that began in 2004. It is intended to raise awareness of children’s eye health and safety, as well as the importance of regular eye exams.

Tips on Protecting Your Child’s Eye Health

It is important to know that children are more prone to eye diseases than adults. This is because they have not yet developed immunity against diseases as adults do. It is also because their immune system is not fully developed so they can easily contract infections caused by bacteria or viruses.

In addition, children tend to play outdoors more often than adults do. They are exposed to many things that can harm their eyes such as dirt, dust, wind, sand, and even sunlight.

So, here are some tips on protecting your child’s eye health:

• Make sure children wear protective eyewear when appropriate (e.g., when riding a bike or playing a sport).
• Check with your doctor if you suspect that your child has an eye problem; don’t just assume it will go away on its own.
• Make sure your child attends his or her regular yearly checkups with an eye doctor
• Raise awareness of the importance of eye health and safety
• Help parents, teachers, and healthcare professionals to know how to prevent eye injuries in children
• Increase public awareness about the importance of taking steps to protect children from preventable eye injuries and vision loss
• Take advantage of free screenings offered at schools or community centers by local ophthalmologists or optometrists

If you have more questions or wish to schedule your child for an eye wellness checkup, please don’t hesitate to call our Oxnard, CA optometry office today!