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FRIDAY, Aug. 15, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- You've probably seen your pediatrician check your child's eyes, or maybe you've heard from the school nurse that your child's vision is fine. But are these quick screenings thorough enough to detect most eye disorders?
Probably not, according to the Vision Council of America and the American Optometric Association.
As many as one in seven children need vision correction to see well, according to a press release issued jointly by those associations. Of more concern is the 3.4 percent of children with a lazy eye and the 2.3 percent who have a crossed or wandering eye because these conditions often aren't detected in general screenings and can cause permanent vision loss.
"Parents need to realize there's more to vision than seeing the eye chart," says optometrist Joel Zaba, a spokesman for the vision council. "Screening will catch some problems, but we recommend a comprehensive exam for children."
A comprehensive exam is one done by a trained eye professional, such as an optometrist or ophthalmologist, that looks not only at how well your child can read an eye chart, but looks at the health of the eye and checks to be sure that the eyes work together as a team, Zaba says.
Only 14 percent of kids under 6 had such an exam in the past year, reports the optometric association. Slightly less than a third of youngsters between 6 and 16 have had a comprehensive eye exam in the previous year.
Parents may mistakenly believe that if their child has trouble seeing, they'll tell them about the problem. But most kids don't even realize that they have a problem. To them, the way they see is normal, Zaba explains.
If your child avoids close work or seems to have a short attention span when doing close work, such as reading or working on the computer, Zaba says that may be a sign that there's a problem with your child's vision.
"If you feel like your child is a lot brighter than school performance indicates, have your child's eyes screened," says Zaba, who points out that 80 percent of the learning a child does in school is through visual input.
Dr. Robert Cykiert, an ophthalmologist at New York University Medical Center, says there are other signs that your child may have vision problems. If your child is bumping into things a lot, or if you see that one eye doesn't quite follow the other as it should, it's time to get your child evaluated by a professional.
If you have any serious eye problems that run in the family, such as glaucoma or an eye turn, says Cykiert, your child should begin having professional eye exams starting as early as 6 months of age.
He recommends starting routine professional eye exams around age 5, or just before your child starts school. He also suggests finding a doctor that has no economic interest in selling glasses to you or your child. And, he says, if someone says your child needs "visual training," you should get a second opinion.
More information
The American Optometric Association offers more information on vision in infants, preschoolers and school-age children.
