World Sight Day 2024: Love your child’s eyes

It is said that “your eyes are the windows to the world for they not only reveal the beauty around you but also shape the future within you”.

Good vision therefore is not just about seeing clearly, but about ensuring a brighter, healthier future for both your eyes and your life.

Your child’s eye health is therefore critical for his or her bright future.

Have you considered making time to take your child to visit an ophthalmologist, optometrist, or ophthalmic nurse for an eye or vision check? Unlike in adults, it’s difficult for children to recognize they cannot see well, and so they may not complain.

It’s even sadder if your child does complain, and no effort is made to address their eye health concerns leading to avoidable eye health issues in the future.

The number of children who are blind due to eye conditions is decreasing worldwide, due to reductions in corneal blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency and measles.

However, this does not include refractive errors. The prevalence of myopia in children and adolescents is rapidly increasing in many parts of the world due to lifestyle changes.

Refractive errors, particularly myopia, are a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in children, affecting 448 million children and adolescents worldwide.

Refractive errors - vision problems where the shape of the eye prevents light from focusing correctly on the retina (the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eyeball) making it hard to see are very common among children.

Myopia (nearsightedness), the most common type of refractive errors in children, causes distant objects to appear blurry. Treatments include corrective glasses, contact lenses, or surgery.

It is interesting to know that squinted eyes (strabismus), a condition in which one eye is turned in a direction that's different from the other eye, can be treated before age 7.

Without treatment, the child with such a condition may develop lazy eye (amblyopia) and lose vision in the squinted eye. No child is too young to wear spectacles; even babies can wear glasses after a thorough examination and prescription.

Be proactive about your child’s eye health:

• Attend regular eye exams: Schedule a thorough eye examination for your children before pre and primary school. Attend regular check-ups at least once every two years if your child doesn’t exhibit eye problems.

• Boost visual engagement for toddlers and babies: Use high-contrast colors and play game of catch, 2-4-6-1-1, pat-a-cake, and peekaboo to improve hand-eye coordination.

• Provide a balanced diet: Nutrients like zinc, lutein, omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish), and vitamins A (from leafy greens) help prevent dry eyes and night blindness. Vitamins C and E (found in oranges and mangoes) support eye health, while eggs and nuts are excellent sources of essential nutrients.

• Limit digital screen time: Keep screens 18 to 24 inches away from your child’s eyes.

•Look out for warning signs: Watch for signs such as bumping into objects, squinting, disinterest in distant objects, head tilting, holding objects very close, eye rubbing, light sensitivity, and poor hand-eye coordination.

By reducing screen time, encouraging outdoor play, ensuring good nutrition, and developing good study habits, we can help reduce the prevalence of myopia in children. School-based eye health programs and the provision of glasses are cost-effective ways to make eye care accessible to children.

Dear parents, while many eye problems occur in adulthood, a child’s vision is also vulnerable to eye diseases without regular screenings by a doctor or eye care professional.

Eye health in young people is not an optional extra; it’s vital to their physical, social, and cognitive development. Pledge to love your child’s eyes. Early detection and treatment is key to your child’s future vision.

Orbis International Ghana, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service in the Ashanti Region, provides screenings, education, treatment, and glasses to children in schools at no cost, helping to reduce avoidable blindness.

Join Orbis International, Ghana Health Service, and Ghana Education Service in prioritizing children’s eye health—today and every day.