Children's vision care is essential to every child's development. Experts say that over 80 percent of what a child learns in school is presented visually, so making sure your son or daughter has good vision can make a big difference in their academic performance.

Routine eye exams for children can detect any nearsightedness, farsightedness and/or astigmatism your child has so it can be promptly treated with eyeglasses or contact lenses. Routine exams are also needed to make sure your child's eyes are healthy and to rule out amblyopia, strabismus and other binocular vision problems that may interfere with your child's vision development, academic performance and sports vision.

As a parent, you may wonder whether your preschooler has a vision problem or when you should schedule your child's first eye exam.

Good vision is vital to reading well. And although vision may not be the only cause of reading difficulties, it is one that is sometimes overlooked.

Eight vision skills needed to read

Retinal disorders
Retinal disorders have a greater chance of developing in older adults, due to the aging process. These often impair central vision. Advances in eye and health care have made treatments more successful, with chances of maintaining good vision now better than ever. Conditions once considered sight threatening may now be successfully treated if diagnosed early.

Suggestions for better sight

Most changes in vision occur in the early and later years of life. Although some people may discover they have nearsightedness -- or difficulty seeing at a distance -- as late as their mid-20s, vision typically stabilizes during the late teen years. From then until around age 40, vision typically changes little, if at all.

Presbyopia - Age-related loss of close-up vision
At about 40 years of age, seeing to read or do close work such as sewing may become difficult. This is known as "presbyopia." Presbyopia, a name that comes from the Greek words for "old eye," occurs because the crystalline lens, an essential component of the eye's refractive, or light-bending structure, loses flexibility as it grows thicker with age. This lack of flexibility affects the ability to focus on close objects.

Teach your child eye protection through these safety rules:

• Keep away from the targets of darts, bows-and-arrows, air guns and missile-throwing toys.
• Don't shine laser pointers into anyone's eyes.
• Teach them laser pointers are not toys.
• Don't run with or throw sharp objects.
• Wear safety goggles when using chemistry sets, power tools and household and yard chemicals. (Note: Be certain your child is mature enough to handle these items safely, and provide proper supervision.)
  

Why thorough vision examinations are important

Don't assume your child has good vision because he or she passed a school vision screening. A 20/20 score means only that your child can see at 20 feet what he or she should be able to see at that distance. It does not measure any of the other vision skills needed for learning.

Vision screenings are important but they should not be substituted for a thorough vision examination.

Things you can do

About 80 percent of all babies are born farsighted -- able to see objects clearly at a distance but less clearly close up. Some five percent are born nearsighted, or unable to see objects at a distance clearly.

Approximately 15 percent are born with nothing wrong with the refractive parts of the eye -- the cornea and crystalline lens which bend light and focus it properly on the retina. Farsightedness usually decreases as a child ages, typically normalizing to a negligible value by the age of 7-8.