Many young children are not having their eyes tested, but it is essential that children between 4½ and 5½ years of age should have an eye test. Eye tests for children are quick, simple and painless and can help prevent serious problems in the future. Although this is often done in schools by the nurse, if your child has not had a test then parents should make separate arrangements.
Five reasons to take a test
1. Of course, if your child tells you they have a vision problem, then an eye test is clearly needed. However, children who are born with poor vision cannot tell you their vision is poor and they can be unaware that they have a problem and that others have better vision.
2. Eye problems in children are common and one of the most common is amblyopia (also known as lazy eye) which can affect up to 5% of children. This condition can be caused by a squint (crossed eye). This is often visible but it can also be caused by problems which are invisible to parents. Other problems include conjunctivitis, blocked tear ducts, droopy eyelids, eyelid cysts and allergies.
3. Eye problems run in families and some eye problems like a squint, amblyopia (lazy eye), or long sight and short sight do commonly run in families. If a parent, sibling or cousin has one of these problems, the child should have an eye test before three years of age. If there is a rarer genetic disease in the family, such as retinoblastoma or congenital cataract, then children should be examined as babies.
4. Many eye problems give children difficulty with their school work and uncorrected long sight (hypermetropia) or eye muscle balance problems may make reading physically tiring and put children off their studies. Myopia or astigmatism may make it difficult for them to see the whiteboard or see what people are doing the other side of the classroom.
5. Most causes of poor vision are easily correctable if they are picked up and treated on time. The human brain is learning to see from birth until about 7½ years of age and so checking the eyes during this time is extremely important. For example, if there is a problem with one eye that blurs the vision then the part of the brain that processes vision from that eye will not develop properly and instead the brain devotes all its efforts to the other eye. This is called amblyopia or lazy eye. Treatment of lazy eye works better in younger children but is less likely to work after the age of 7½.