Eye exams for school-agers--how often?

The American Optometric Association and the American Academy of Ophthalmology could do a better job at educating the public on the importance of eye exams for kids. The American Dental Association certainly does a great job educating the public on dental exams. How many people, for example, think the screenings done at school are full exams? How often should a child see an eye doctor?

Let's clear up one thing first. The school screenings are not eye exams. They're a useful tool for catching some vision problems, but sometimes they can miss things because these screenings are not comprehensive. For instance, eye health is not even assessed. It's simply a vision test. Kids who are far-sighted can have a significant prescription but can still pass. Other children can see the distance chart often used in these screenings, but may have problems with focusing on near work. These types of issues are what eye doctors evaluate in a full eye exam in addition to distance vision.

So why is this important? The American Optometric Association (AOA) notes that approximately 80% of learning comes through our eyes and vision. If a child can't see well, or if the vision system isn't functioning correctly, learning is much more difficult. Let's face it--learning for a lot of kids is challenging enough. They don't need something that makes it even harder to learn.

How often should a school-ager have an eye exam? The AOA recommends at least once every two years, and more frequently if there are any vision problems or risk factors. If your child wears contact lenses, she or he needs needs to be evaluated yearly at least according to the AOA's clinical guidelines on the care of a contact lens patient. The child may need to be seen more often than that depending on lens type, any eye conditions, or if he or she sleeps in the lenses.

Both the AOA and the AAO have links on their websites to help you find an eye doctor in your area. They also have sections with articles related to a wide variety of vision and eye problems.

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