Date : 20-Jul-2022

Steps to keep children’s eyes healthy

Amrit Hospital is the leading eye hospital in Chennai with the best eye doctors. We have a team of best eye specialists who deliver high-quality and personalized eye care solutions for children. Eye health is important for everyone, especially in the early development of children and adolescents. Parents should be informed of how their child's vision develops as they get older. This may make it simpler to identify any problems impacting their child's vision in the long term. When your child reaches school age, they will experience substantially higher visual demands in their daily activities. Studies have shown that children with poor vision during their initial stages of life tend to fall behind their peers in reading and language skills. Furthermore, poor visual health has a significant negative influence on children's academic performance, quality of life, and leads to high annual medical costs.

We all know that children, just like adults, have unique vision requirements. So, it is important for parents to understand the importance of regular eye examinations, common eye problems, corrective lenses for children, and other topics that can help them ensure their child has the best visual health possible. The top ophthalmologists at Amrit Hospital provide some effective strategies to maintain your children's eye health and safety for a better future. The following will explain what they are:

• Vision-friendly food: A healthy, balanced diet helps prevent your child from having a number of health problems, including eye conditions. Give your children wholesome meals that include fruits, eggs, green and leafy vegetables, nuts, and fish. These foods provide essential nutrients and antioxidants, including lutein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, and vitamin E, which are connected with eye health and promote healthy vision.
• Proper sleep schedule: Following a regular sleep schedule to ensure proper rest enhances children's eye health. When a child gets enough sleep, their body has time to repair and regenerate their eyes, leading to sharper, clearer vision; greater eye lubrication; and healthier nerves and tissues in and around the eyes. Also, make sure to keep all devices out of the bedroom, including televisions, computers, and cell phones, and restrict their usage of electronics before bedtime.
• Regular eye checkups: Eye experts recommend that children undergo their first eye test at six months of age to ensure that their eyes are developing normally. In particular, children who wear prescription glasses must have annual eye exams to check for vision changes. If you see any signs of developmental delay in your kid, or if your child has difficulty identifying shapes, colors, numbers, or letters, contact your eye doctor right away—a developmental delay may indicate a vision impairment. For this reason, an eye exam should be part of your child's routine medical checkup.
• Limit screen time: Children are spending more time than ever before staring at digital screens, including computers, tablets, televisions, smartphones, and other devices. Children's wellness, particularly the health of their eyes, might suffer from too much screen time. They are usually so involved in what they are doing that they fail to notice symptoms of eye strain. Looking up at a screen makes the eyes wider and dries them out faster. So it is our duty to keep track of how much time they spend on their screens and tell them to take breaks. If your child uses a desktop or laptop computer, make sure the screen is positioned just below eye level to avoid eye strain and fatigue.
• Encourage outdoor activities: Getting children outside and away from screens is a great way to keep them healthy. According to studies, children who spend just one hour every day outside have an over 14% lower risk of myopia. Being outside and focusing on distant objects allows the eye muscles to relax, especially after hours of looking at a screen or learning in the classroom. Eye specialists also recommend spending 60 to 80 minutes each day outside to improve eye health and reduce the likelihood of certain eye disorders.

Your children's eyes will play a significant role in their development, thus it is critical that you assist in ensuring their safety and health. From giving them nutritious foods to taking them to the doctor on a regular basis, your efforts are an investment in a bright and vibrant future for your children. Therefore, we've mentioned some eye care recommendations for children that you may follow to keep their eyes healthy throughout their lives. At Amrit hospital, we have the best eye specialist in Chennai. Consult them right away if your child experiences vision problems or eye discomfort.