September is Children's Eye Health & Safety Month

September has been designated as Children's Eye Health & Safety Month, with the timing planned to coincide with back to school. Parents, early childhood educators and teachers have a vital role to play in helping to look for vision problems, which impact one in 20 preschools and one in four school-aged children. Not surprisingly, a child can have a serious vision problem without a parent or caregiver even being aware of it. (I know--my daughter needed glasses, and it took a year of reading struggles before we realized it. She later outgrew the need for them.) While schools and many daycare centers/preschools offer vision screenings, the tests are often geared to whether a child can see far (such as the whiteboard) and not near (such as reading a book). Parents should closely monitor a child to determine any vision concerns, and should ask their child's pediatrician to screen for vision and to determine whether a more comprehensive exam is recommended.