Aspirus Health Promotes Screenings During National Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month

Regular eye exams can detect vision problems early, before children realize they have them. This ensures that kids are set up for success in school, sports and daily life. Aspirus Health providers recommend having a first eye exam between the ages of four to five years old. 

“If there haven’t been any problems prior to that, the reason why we do that is a child’s neurologic development is still progressing,” said Aspirus Ophthalmologist Dr. Charlie Ahrens. “Especially within the visual system, it gets locked in kind of at six, seven, eight years old, and so if we can identify problems before then, we can have a chance to try to prevent some of these problems. Ideally, I recommend seeing kids at about four or five years old.”  

Common vision problems among children include nearsightedness, farsightedness and lazy eye. Eye issues can also lead to difficulties at school, but parents and teachers can help with recognizing symptoms. 

“It is sometimes challenging, but sometimes just seeing if the kid is not wanting to perform certain visual tasks that other kids might be doing if they might be struggling in class,” said Dr. Ahrens. “Sometimes that’s a good indicator that there might be something wrong, and a lot of times we’re used as a tool to identify some of those issues.”  

Things to watch for include children struggling to read, having problems at school, standing too close to the TV, standing too far away, and turning their head or their eyes a certain way when they are trying to do visual tasks. 

To learn more about the eye care options for kids and adults at Aspirus Health, visit slhduluth.com/services/eye-care/ or aspirus.org/eye-care-surgery.