According to the data released by the WHO, 80% of people with blindness, moderate or severe visual impairment worldwide are over 50 years old. At the same time, experts indicate that 19 million children are affected by some type of visual dysfunction. Of these, 1.4 million are under the age of 15.
Despite these figures, the organization claims that serious vision problems have decreased since the 1990s . "We estimate that the number of visually impaired people could triple because of population growth and aging," he explains to WHO.
The institution ensures that around 80% of all vision problems can be prevented or cured. Experts note that diagnostic tests and treatments have improved greatly in the past 25 years. The organization explains that since 2014 it has been applying its Universal Eye Health plan .
The strategy that started in 2014 lasts until today. With this plan, the organization aims to raise awareness in society about the importance of eye screening and the consequences of not applying a treatment to any visual problem.
Detect vision problemsMiddle childhood is a common time to screen for vision problems, especially the first time children are assigned places in the classroom. Your child may tell you that they cannot read the board unless they squint or move to a place in the first row.
The bates method for better eyesight without glasses Or perhaps you notice that when you watch television you sit close to the set. What's less common, your child may complain that the words on the pages of books are blurred. All of these signs suggest a focus problem and require an eye doctor to examine you.
Myopia, or poor vision, is the most common vision problem among school-age children, often developing between the ages of six and adolescence. With this condition, the eyeball has an elongated shape and therefore the light passing through the lens of the eye is focused on the front of the retina instead of on it. As a result of this, the child cannot clearly see distant objects.
Children with farsightedness, or far vision, have the opposite problem. Due to the flattened shape of the eyeballs, the images are focused behind the retina, making them appear blurry. These children cannot clearly see nearby objects without making an effort to focus, although this effort may not be conscious.
Both conditions can be inherited . Nearsightedness and farsightedness may require glasses to correct poor vision. Most doctors recommend that active children wear unbreakable plastic lenses to minimize the chances of serious accidents. Some children prefer contact lenses, but because the lenses require diligent care, doctors frequently do not recommend wearing them before adolescence. Laser surgery to correct myopia is not done until they are adults, when the eye has finished growing.
In addition, some children also have astigmatism, in which the front of the eye is shaped more like a soccer ball than a basketball. As a result, vision can be similar to what you see when looking in a mirror with a rippled surface, like a fun-house mirror that makes you look too tall, too wide, or too thin. Astigmatism is generally inherited, can be present at birth, and can remain unchanged throughout life. Normally, blurred vision from astigmatism is corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Small amounts of astigmatism are common and do not require correction.
Below are other points to remember about your child's vision:
Although visual difficulties can sometimes be the reason for headaches, this pain is most often associated with problems that are not related to the eyes.
If your child wears glasses and participates in competitive sports, the glasses should be secured with a strap that connects the two pieces of the ears and stretches behind the head. In addition, special sports glasses are available.
Some optometrists recommend eye exercises to help treat learning disorders like dyslexia. However, carefully controlled studies have failed to demonstrate any benefit of these eye exercises or the use of colored lenses to treat these disorders.
