22 Jul Why Kids Need Annual Eye Exams

Summer is coming to a close, and kids are getting ready to go back to school. While you might be busy packing up backpacks or picking out pencils, you might also want to make time to visit with your eye doctor before your child goes back.

Whether they have glasses or not, annual eye exams are important for school-age children, and in this article, we’re going to discuss why you should make sure your child is seeing their optometrist before school every year.

Read on to learn more!

1. Kids Need Annual Eye Exams to Catch Problems

The risk of poor academics isn’t the only reason kids need to have eye exams. In some cases, it can be much more about their health than anything else.

Annual eye exams can catch lazy eyes, color blindness, and diseases unrelated to the eye. For kids with diabetes, eye exams are even more important, and catching diseases that impact our eyes, like diabetes, is easier with regular eye exams.

With eyes, ironically enough, many common issues are not visible. So, ensuring that your kids are able to go regularly before those problems become visible could drastically help your children.

Keep in mind that catching eye diseases isn’t just for kids. Most adults know if they have color blindness, lazy eyes, or diabetes, but as they age, they become more susceptible to diseases like macular degeneration and cataracts.

2. It’s Likely They’ll Need An Eye Exam

Whether your child has had glasses before or not, chances are they will need vision correction at some point. 61 percent of Americans need either glasses or contacts, and one out of every four kids need glasses by kindergarten.

Nearsightedness often reveals itself when kids go to school because of the increase in reading and other sight-dependent activities. Even if your child hasn’t shown any signs of vision issues, it’s safer to have an eye exam before they even step foot in a school!

Getting the eye exam during the summer also saves you and your child’s time and energy during the hectic school year. It might get a bit harder to make time for an appointment once their schedules are on full blast.

3. Eyesight Affects Learning in the Classroom

Did you know that about 80 percent of everything a child learns at school is through visual information?

That means that if your child’s eyesight isn’t at tip-top shape, chances are they will fall behind in school. What’s worse is that, even if your child can’t read the board or the homework assignment in front of them, they still may not even realize their eyesight could be fixed.

In fact, a small visual impairment may just be slowing them down enough to hurt their school work but not impact the rest of their lives.

For that reason, it’s good for an optometrist to check their eyesight before they go to school. This could help alleviate a problem before it even becomes one.

Schedule Your Child’s Annual Eye Exam

There’s no doubt that kids need annual eye exams to improve both their learning and their overall health.

Are you looking for an optometrist? We specialize in pediatric eye care and are always happy to take new patients. With 6 offices in Knoxville, Maryville, Clinton, and Dunlap, we will be able to help you and your child anywhere you are.

If you’d like to make an appointment, please either call us at 877-VOL-EYES (877-865-3937) or schedule online. Back to school exams schedule early, so please contact us as soon as possible!