Nixon Health Office

March is National Save Your Vision Month.

Because children grow and change so rapidly, how they see can have a profound impact on their development and ability to learn. As a parent, it is difficult, sometimes impossible, to accurately judge how well your child is seeing since you cannot see through their eyes and symptoms of a vision problem are not always apparent. One of the most important steps a parent can take to insure optimal learning may be a comprehensive eye examination. Regular eye exams by a doctor of optometry can help you be certain that your child's vision is developing normally. Since vision changes can occur without you or your child noticing them, your child should visit the optometrist for a comprehensive eye examination starting at six months, again at 3 years, before starting school and at least every two years, or more frequently, if specific problems, like juvenile diabetes, or other risk factors exist. Eighty percent of what students learn is through vision, and yet 86% of children who enter school have not had a complete eye examination.

Tips for parents scheduling an infant or toddler's comprehensive eye examination:

• Schedule the exam early in the day
• Have your baby fed and dry
• Let your older child know that there won't be any shots involved
• Make a game of it; practice looking at pictures and making it fun

Please take a moment to review the following Health Eyes Healthy People Children's checklist for your children. Here are some questions to help determine if your child might have symptoms, which might indicate a serious vision problem. Keep in mind, a comprehensive eye examination by an optometrist can most easily discover eye problems.

Do you have a child:

• With an eye turned inward, outward, upward, or downward?
• With a habit of turning or tilting his head or closing an eye?
• Who avoids coloring, puzzles, or detailed activities?
• Who bumps into objects or cannot judge distances?
• When reading, does your school-age child lose his place, make frequent reversals, use his finger to maintain his place, holds material closer than normal, omits or confuses small words, or consistently performs below potential?

And just so you don't feel left out, here is the Healthy Eyes Healthy People Adult Checklist. If you answer "yes" to one or more questions, be sure to schedule an appointment for your comprehensive eye examination.

Are you:

• Someone with diabetes, hypertension, or any other systemic or chronic disease?
• At risk for certain systemic or eye diseases, because of family history or other factors?
• Having more difficulty reading smaller type, such as books and newspapers?
• Experiencing frequent headaches after working on a computer?
• Rubbing your eyes frequently or having tired or burning eyes?
• Losing track of a person or objects in your peripheral (side) vision?
• Avoiding close work?
• Having difficulty driving at night?
• Experiencing frequent near misses, accidents, or difficultly parking when driving?
• Experiencing difficulty with eye-hand-body coordination?
• Playing sports and having trouble judging distances between yourself, the ball, or other objects.

Even if you didn't answer "yes" to any of the above, keep in mind that symptoms of vision problems aren't always apparent. Regular, comprehensive eye exams by a doctor of optometry can help you be certain that your eyes are functioning properly and are healthy.

Postural Screening of all the 5th graders will take place this month. All parents of 5th grade students will receive a letter home explaining the screening process. If you have any questions regarding the screening please call me at the health office. Let's hope that now that March is here, spring is just around the corner!!!