Get those eyes checked

UF Health Podcasts

It’s August, and your kids are likely preparing to return to school. Supplies are packed, lunches are made and blissful quiet awaits you at home. But before you send them off, make sure their eyes are classroom-ready.

August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month, so it’s no time to neglect an aspect crucial to your child’s academic success. A 2020 study by Canadian and Belgian researchers used visual screenings of schoolchildren ages 6 to 12 and found that students with poor visual health performed worse in school compared with their 20/20-vision peers.

Those with visual disorders were found to be at a significant disadvantage in the classroom. Luckily, there are ways to maintain your child’s visual health and ensure they get the most of their education.

Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer several easily managed tips.

Staying active and eating a balanced diet is one recommendation. Spending time outside eases eye strain caused by near-vision activities, and ditching processed lunches for whole grains and leafy greens can provide eye-benefiting nutrients like zinc and vitamin A.

Technology is a classroom staple, but when children aren’t at school, limit their use of digital screens. Johns Hopkins debunked the blue light myth but said screens still cause eye strain, which can lead to other eye problems.

The back-to-school buzz can make it difficult to stick to a routine, but ensuring children are getting enough sleep and having regular eye exams is vital to eye recovery and screening.

You can’t learn if you can’t see, so don’t let your child’s eye health take a backseat.