Children's eyesight is out of focus

Children's eyesight is out of focus
Guide Dogs is teaming up with The Eyecare Trust and Specsavers Opticians to call for urgent Government action on kids' eyesight. Britain could soon have the worst children's vision screening system in the developed world according to leading charities The Eyecare Trust and Guide Dogs, as well as the country's largest optical retailer, Specsavers Opticians*.

The three organisations have come together to bring the issue into sharp focus during National Eye Week (22-28 September) after a new Government publication proclaimed that schoolchildren in Britain should only have their vision screened once during primary school.

The news came as a survey revealed that nine out of ten parents fear their children losing their sight above all other senses.1

"This is a truly alarming development which could leave children exposed to sight conditions that are difficult or impossible to cure in later years," said lain Anderson, chairman of eyesight charity The Eyecare Trust. "A child's sight is fully formed by the age of seven, so it's vital that problems are detected early to avoid a lifelong visual handicap. By far the most common problem in people under 20 is amblyopia (lazy eye) which if left untreated can result in permanent loss of vision, but even simple short or long sight can ruin a child's progress at school."

During National Eye Week, The Eyecare Trust, Specsavers Opticians and Guide Dogs alerted parents to the decline of vision screening in schools and the importance of regular sight checks for all children.

But Paul Carroll, Director of Professional Services for Specsavers Opticians, believes it is wrong that the onus should be placed on parents or the children themselves to pick up sight problems. "Some of the most common problems are almost impossible to spot with the naked eye and, as they often don't hurt the child, they can easily be ignored," he says. "A full eye examination carried out by a qualified optometrist is the best way of detecting problems early to ensure that they are treated successfully."

The new publication, the fourth edition of Health for All Children2, recommends that children should have their vision screened at four to five years old and that no further checks should be carried out in primary schools. It also recommends that vision screening should only be carried out in secondary schools where a programme is already in place, but it should be done once at most and no new screening should be introduced. Children with colour vision deficiency could easily go undetected too, as Health for All Children says no attempt should be made to screen for colour vision defects in primary schools.

"Recent research has shown that approximately one in five children have visual problems, and more than two thirds of those are not receiving professional care," lain Anderson added. "Most parents assume that children will have their sight checked regularly during the school years as part of wider health monitoring, but unfortunately this is not the case. Optometrists agree that children should have their eyes examined annually, and although any child up to the age of 19 in full-time education can have a proper eye examination paid for by the NHS, many parents do not take advantage of this."

Among the most common vision problems detected by vision screening children are amblyopia (lazy eye) and strabismus (crossed eyes). According to Paul Carroll, neither of the common terms are very accurate: "Lazy Eye implies a weakness in the eye muscles or an eye that doesn't have the strength to focus straight ahead. In fact, it's really a case of the eye being ignored by the brain because the picture signal it's sending is inadequate. This can be caused by a number of things which can be put right relatively easily if they are detected early.

"Crossed eyes are sometimes obvious, but can often go unnoticed. In this condition the two eyes are not parallel to each other and do not work as a team. Both conditions can make it difficult or impossible for the brain to assemble clear 3D images and in the worst cases sight in the affected eye can fail to develop properly, leaving the eye partly useless in adulthood.

"Contrary to popular belief, a child will not 'grow out' of either condition and they need to be treated before the age of six. For this reason optometrists recommend that regular eye checks should start from birth, but potentially the most important check will take place at three or four years old. No child should be deprived of these checks, or the tragic consequences could affect the rest of their life."

It is vital that children's eye care is not neglected. Tests carried out by Guide Dogs in a London primary school with Prof David Thomson during June 2003 found that 12 per cent of children had undetected eye problems and that 43 per cent had never had an eye examination. If the Government reduces the level of children's vision screening even further there will be a very real impact on quality of life for large numbers of young people. Our recent 'Cost of Blindness' report has highlighted the massive sums that are currently spent supporting people who lose their sight.

Wider research carried out by Prof David Thomson of City University in London has found that almost one in five school children have a problem with their eyes. 0Most learning activities require a good standard of vision and many children are being disadvantaged at school because of poor vision", said Prof Thomson. 0Most of these problems can be detected very easily by vision screening".

Prof Thomson's team have developed a computer program that can detect over 95 per cent of vision problems in just three minutes. The program is inexpensive and can be operated by school staff or nurses. Prof Thomson added "Bearing in mind the money and effort that we invest in educating our children, it seems extraordinary that we no longer consider it worthwhile to spend three minutes checking that they can see properly. By taking your children for regular eye examinations you will be helping to ensure that they have the greatest gift you can give them - lifelong good vision."

The Eyecare Trust is a registered charity which exists to raise public awareness of all aspects of ocular health and the importance of regular eyecare.

1 Omnimas survey of 648 parents in the UK, carried out in March 2003 for the RNIB.

2 The fourth edition of Health for All Children is published by Oxford University Press at £17.95.

*GFK Home Audit 2003

The Eyecare Trust has produced a leaflet entitled 'Your Child's Eyecare', which is available free from optical practices. For more information visit www.eye-care.org.uk www.healthyeyes.org.uk or www.specsavers.com.

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