SALUD: Back to School Means a Focus on Eye Health

Children's Eye Health and Safety Month comes but once a year, and August is an ideal time to focus attention on the importance of vision care and blindness prevention in order to protect the eyes and vision of American youth.

Back-to-school time is just right around the corner, and preparedness for a child's success involves more than supplies, utensils, enrollment forms, immunizations and orientation schedules. It also involves proper evaluation of a child's eye health. Organizations such as Prevent Blindness America and the American Academy of Ophthalmologists have partnered to endorse the importance of healthy eyes and bring awareness to conditions that threaten vision.

According to a comprehensive study by the National Eye Institute, Latinos develop visual impairment, vision problems and blindness at a higher rate than any ethnic group in the country. Although, Hispanics have the highest risks for developing eye health issues, they aren't taking the steps to protect their vision. Less than half visit the eye doctor annually, and far fewer take their children with them. Overwhelmingly, many cite cost, busyness and no experience with vision problems for failing to schedule appointments. The report also showed that Hispanics tend to have low levels of awareness about UV eye protection, which increases the likelihood of cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and pterygia.

Because parents can't simply "look" into a child's eyes and recognize health issues, it's important that a child has their vision tested beginning at the age of three. Parents should be aware of early indicators such as wandering or crossed eyes, disinterest in reading or viewing distant objects, a family history or childhood vision problems or squinting while watching television. It's also important to speak to a pediatrician if it's suspected that a child has color deficiency, refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism), amblyopia (lazy eye) or ptosis (drooping eyelid).

It's estimated that 80 percent of classroom education is taught visually, emphasizing the point that clear vision is required to improve academic and athletic performance. While parents are frequently concerned with the cost of glasses, many students are concerned with how glasses will make them look. Transitions Optical recently launched a three-part web series entitled "Estilo a Primera Vista," hosted by the well-known Latina celebrity stylist Irma Martinez. During those webisodes, Martinez urges Hispanics to embrace eyewear as a stylish and functional item that not only enhances vision, but personal style.

"'Estilo a Primera Vista' is amazing because I can share my know-how about styling and I can encourage people to wear glasses," Martinez told Latin Post. "I've worn glasses for a long, long time. Apart from that, I would never want to sacrifice fashion for good health ... but I also wouldn't want to sacrifice good health for fashion."

"In these webisodes ... it investigates why Latinos are more at risk of having vision problems and how we don't take care of our eyes enough. It's been amazing because I've combined all of my knowledge and talents with great solutions and awareness for the people who don't take care of their eyes as much as they should."

Also, eye safety is just as important as eye health. According to Friends for Sight, every year thousands of children sustain an eye injury, and in 90 percent of those cases, that injury could have been prevented with use of protective eyewear. Sports and recreation presents many opportunities for eye injuries, so it's important to take proper precautions. Additionally, it's important to remind children not to rub or touch eyes, and to seek the assistance of adult or a medical professional immediately following an eye injury.

The Health Alliance Plan of Michigan website reports that more than 12 million children suffer from vision impairment, and eye injuries are the leading cause of vision loss in children. Approximately 42,000 sports-related eye injuries each year and the majority of them happen to children. Read more about eye health at the Prevent Blindness website.

Check out Latin Post's interview with Irma Martinez: