You only get one set of eyes in your lifetime so it’s important that you take care of them as best as you can. As a parent, teaching your children about eye health, hygiene and safety can be vital to their future eye health. To help with the education process, here are our top 10 tips to keep your children’s eyes healthy and happy!
- Eat a balanced diet full of fresh fruit and vegetables and plenty of Omega 3’s found in fish such as tuna, salmon and halibut
- Exercise regularly to reduce your risk of developing eye harming conditions such as diabetes in later life
- Use sunglasses with 100% UV protective lenses and a wide brim hat to shield their eyes from the sun rise
- Encourage your kids to tell you or their teacher if their eyes hurt, their vision becomes blurring, jumpy or if double vision or spots in front of their vision develops.
- As a parent, look for any odd changes in behavior such as excessive blinking or rubbing of the eyes or if your child is tilting their head, this can be a sign of eye problems
- Tell them not to rub their eyes as it can make the problem worse and even cause scratches to their eyeball if there is a foreign body in the eye.
- Discourage your children from smoking
- Tell them to take time to rest their eyes: In the world of technology we are currently living it, children are staring at computer, tablet and smart phone screens for long periods of time. If this is done over a long period of time it can cause eye strain and fatigue and even give them short sightedness. Tell them to follow the 20/20/20 rule. Take a break every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds by looking at something 20 feet away
- Educate your children on eye safety: Always carry sharp objects including knives, scissors and pencils with the sharp edge pointed down, never shoot objects or spray things at others, especially in the direction of the head
- Teach them to wash their hands regularly before touching their eyes
We hope that this information has been helpful to you and your family. Although these tips are essential in taking care of your children’s eyes it is still important to get your children’s eyes checked regularly to ensure there are no issues with the health of their eyes. At Cooper and Lourie, children’s eye examinations are covered by Medicare.