An eyeopener to parents that good vision is vital to learning process of school age children. It is also noted that kids are most prone to refractive errors in eyesight which most usually originate during childhood because it is during this phase that children eyes grow and develop.

Refractive errors, the most common eye problem, occur when there is a mismatch between the length of the eye and its optical power.

This happens when the eye doesn’t bend (or refract) light properly, causing blurred vision. Refractive errors encompass myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism or presbyopia.

The exact causes of refractive errors are still being studied, but it is known that both hereditary and environmental factors play a role in the development of this problem.

Recently, it was also found that refractive errors as the second leading cause of avoidable visual impairment and blindness worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global magnitude of uncorrected refractive errors accounts for visual impairment in 153 million people. And among this number , at least 13 million are children aged 5 to 15.

It is highly recommended by most eye doctors that it is important to have your children’s eyes checked by expert optometrists at least once a year, to help ensure that their eyes are in top condition.

According to the same, refractive errors can easily be prevented by the vision screening approach performed in various ways, including simple visual accounting assessment by school teachers or paramedical professionals and by using computers to assess vision.

It was further explained by eye doctors that children’s eyes must be checked regularly because uncorrected refractive errors result in the loss of productive educational life, the loss of self esteem and a highly impaired quality of life.

Its rehabilitation can also be socially and economically burdensome to the family, society and the government as well.

In case your child has refractive errors, eye experts could determine the proper refractive correction for them. It can be using prescription glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery.

Just like any ailment, prevention is still better than cure when it comes to eye care. Remind your children not to strain their eyes to maintain perfect/good vision by giving their eyes enough rest or by not overdoing TV watching or reading (especially with insufficient lighting).

If they are in front of computer monitor for hours, they should close their eyes for at least a minute every once in a while, to soothe their eyes from strain.

Most importantly, if they’re already wearing prescription eye wear, make sure they’re wearing the proper eye glasses so that they don’t worsen the refractive error. And trust only eye experts for their eye care needs.

So if you suspect that your child may be suffering from refractive errors, today is the best time to have them check.