9 Top Tips For Keeping
Your Kids’ Eyes Healthy And Safe

Schedule Yearly Eye Exams

Yearly eye exams are the most important practice for developing lifelong healthy eye habits. One out of four school-age children suffers from undiagnosed vision problems. These vision problems can be found and treated in a back-to-school eye exam. Even if your kids say they can see fine, it is still important to schedule an eye exam every year. Kids often don't notice changes in their vision and find ways to adapt to blurry eyesight. A comprehensive vision exam not only checks for vision problems, but also other eye diseases and signs of underlying health problems.

Look out for these Children's Eye Diseases

Here are some of the common eye diseases that eye doctors screen for in kids.

• Nearsightedness
• Farsightedness
• Astigmatism
• Amblyopia (lazy eye)
• Strabismus (crossed eyes)
• Ptosis (drooping eyelid)
• Color blindness

Don't delay scheduling your children's eye exams. For details on when kids need eye exams (spoiler alert: they need to start at age 6 months), see the handy "Recommended Eye Exam Frequency" chart here.

Stay Up-to-date with Glasses Prescriptions

After completing your kids' yearly eye exams, the next step is to get updated glasses as specified in each child’s new prescription. Visionworks has dozens of kids' glasses styles to make shopping for new frames exciting and fun. While it is important to have an updated prescription, it's also essential for kids to find glasses they love to wear. Our Visionworks team works with kids until they discover the perfect pair they feel confident and comfortable wearing. And don't forget to buy a backup pair!

Pack Eye-Healthy School Lunches

A healthy diet plays a huge role in kids' energy levels, well-being and eye health. Take some time to research the best foods for eye health and incorporate healthy options into your kids' school lunches. Some of the Visionworks team's favorite foods for eye health include carrots, citrus fruits, eggs, leafy greens and fish. These foods are filled with vitamins, antioxidants and omega-3s, which all promote healthy eyes. While most kids love sugary candy and junk foods, try to limit the amount they consume. Fried foods, sugary drinks and salty snacks can actually contribute to eye disease later in life—like macular degeneration, retina damage and vision loss.

Prepare for Fall Eye Allergies

Kids are prone to allergies affecting the eyes just like adults. When allergy season comes along, work with your kids on healthy habits to help prevent seasonal allergies. For example, enlist your kids’ help to clean the house. Dusting in hard-to-reach places and cleaning soft surfaces can help reduce seasonal allergies. Also, teach your kids healthy eye habits, like regular hand washing. Clean hands can prevent unnecessary contact with triggering allergens and bacteria.

Take Screen Breaks and Invest in Blue Light Glasses

For kids today, screen time goes beyond texting, video games and watching TV. Many children use laptops and tablets in classrooms and at home to research essay topics, graph science class data and make presentations. Most American teens are spending over nine hours a day on screens and digital devices. All this screen time can be hard on the eyes—and the blue light cast from devices can contribute to digital eye strain. Parents should invest in blue light glasses for school and instruct their kids to take short screen breaks every 20 minutes. Blue light glasses reduce ultraviolet blue light exposure by 45% and provide relief from the effects of digital eye strain. Visionworks Smart Screen lenses can be added to both prescription and non-prescription glasses. Your kids will love the stylish frame options—and you’ll love knowing that their eyes are defended!

Don't Run With Scissors

How many times did your parents and teachers tell you not to run with scissors as a kid? This eye safety recommendation is one of the oldest tips in the book—because it is one of the most important! Kids should never run when handling sharp, pointy or jagged objects. Instead, instruct your children to walk slowly with the pointy end of the object facing down. Teach your children to identify a path free of obstacles, tripping hazards and other people before walking with a sharp object across a room.

Practice Routine Hand Washing

Routine hand washing is one of the best ways to help reduce the spread of germs and prevent eye infections like pink eye. Teach your kids to wash their hands every time they go to the bathroom, before meals and after playtime. The CDC recommends these five hand washing tips be employed every time kids wash their hands.

1. Wet hands with clean running water.
2. Lather hands with soap, making sure to wash the back of the hands, in between fingers and under nails.
3. Scrub hands for 20 seconds. Kids can hum the "Happy Birthday Song" two times to help time themselves.
4. Rinse hands again under clean running water.
5. Dry hands using a clean cloth or paper towel. Air-drying hands is also a good option when towels aren't available.

Don't Rub Itchy Eyes

This tip can be challenging even for adults! Teach kids to resist rubbing their eyes, even if itchy. Even with clean hands, it's a bad idea for kids to rub their eyes. In addition to bacteria and germs, allergens can cling to the surface of hands. When kids rub their eyes, these allergens can make itching worse. Plus, eye rubbing can lead to eye infections like pink eye. Instead of rubbing itchy eyes, kids should try blinking or closing their eyes for a moment. This option can offer some quick relief while keeping their eyes safe from irritants.

Wear Sunglasses Outside

While playing on the playground is fun, bright UV rays pose a risk for children's eye safety. Long-term exposure to the sun's UVA/UVB rays can lead to eye problems, including eye sunburn, cataracts and macular degeneration. According to The Vision Council, while 73% of adults wear sunglasses, only 58% of children wear them. Everyone, including kids, should wear sunglasses outside to help protect their eyes. Visionworks has dozens of kids' eyeglasses frames to choose from, and in addition to providing protection from UVA/UVB rays, they can also be customized with polarized or light-reactive lenses.

Right now, Visionworks has special offers on kids' glasses. Shop online or go to a Visionworks store near you. Get your kids' new glasses for the classroom and add a pair of sunglasses or blue light glasses for the playground and study hall.