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Why Are Eye Exams Important?

Routine eye exams are important regardless of your age or your physical health.

During a comprehensive eye exam, your eye doctor does much more than just determines your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses. He or she will also check your eyes for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together as a team and evaluate your eyes as an indicator of your overall health.

Also, eye doctors often are the first health care professionals to detect chronic systemic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

As a parent, you may wonder whether your preschooler has a vision problem or when you should schedule your child's first eye exam.

Eye exams for children are extremely important, because 5 to 10 percent of preschoolers and 25 percent of school-aged children have vision problems. Early identification of a child's vision problem can be crucial because children often are more responsive to treatment when problems are diagnosed early.

According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), infants should have their first comprehensive at 6 months of age. Children then should have additional eye exams at age 3, and just before they enter the first grade at about age 5 or 6.

For school-aged children, the AOA recommends an eye exam every two years if no vision correction is required. Children who need eyeglasses or contact lenses should be examined annually or as recommended by their optometrist or ophthalmologist.

Early eye exams also are important because children need the following basic skills related to good eyesight for learning:

• Near vision

• Distance vision

• Binocular (two eyes) coordination

• Eye movement skills

• Focusing skills

• Peripheral awareness

• Hand-eye coordination

Vision is closely linked to the learning process. Children with undetected vision problems often will have trouble with their schoolwork. Many times, children will not complain of vision problems simply because they don't know what "normal" vision looks like.

For these reasons, some states require a mandatory eye exam for all children entering school for the first time. If your child is performing poorly at school, be sure to have his or her eyes examined by an eye doctor who specializes in children's vision to rule out an underlying visual cause.

Why Are Eye Exams Important?

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