It’s so important for parents to be aware of their children’s health, and a lot of the time, they are. Parents will watch out for coughs and colds, they will look for bruising and abrasions, they will take their child’s temperature and ensure that their allergies are dealt with. However, even the most diligent of parents may well forget one important aspect of their child’s overall health; their vision.
As an adult, you can easily tell if your eyesight is deteriorating and if you need to wear eyeglasses. You’ll make an appointment with the optometrist, and you’ll listen to their advice when buying eyeglasses. Yet, for children, this is not so easy, and when it comes to especially young children, it’s very hard for them to articulate their sight issues. Even older children who have never considered that their sight could be problematic because they are used to how they see might not mention that there’s anything wrong. With that in mind, here are some things to look out for to see if your child might need some help when it comes to their eyesight.
Frequent Headaches
Just as with adults, a child who is straining their eyes to see things around them will develop frequent headaches. If your little one keeps complaining of pain in the head, or if they are rubbing their head a lot (even if they can’t speak or don’t have the right words to explain what a headache is), then this could be a sign of poor eyesight that needs corrective eyeglasses to fix.
Of course, some children will know they have a problem and just not want to discuss it because they are afraid of what wearing glasses means. In this case, before you book the appointment, show the child what it entails. You can even show them the different eyeglasses and accessories available at Just-glasses.co.uk to put their mind at ease and prepare them for wearing eyeglasses should they need to.
Avoidance of Activities
There are all kinds of reasons why a child might not want to do something active, but what about coloring, drawing, or other craft activities? Usually, children will happily spend many hours on these types of activities, but if they are starting to shy away from these and avoid doing them at all, it might be because their vision is poor and they are unable to truly enjoy the activity.
If a child is having problems seeing, they will often avoid doing things that should be fun or easy. If there is no other reason for this avoidance, then an eye test might be the answer to find out more.
Sitting Close to Screens
Children use screens a lot, whether it’s for schoolwork, homework, or just for relaxation. So how is your child using their screen? Are they sitting at a far, ideal distance, or are they hunched over it, trying to get as close as possible? If it’s the latter, then it might be an issue with their eyesight that is causing them to do this.
If there is no issue, your child should be able to sit from ten to fifteen feet away from the screen (although the smaller the screen, the closer they will need to be) without any issues. If they keep edging closer and/or they’re squinting at the screen, an optometrist is the next step.
