BACK-TO-SCHOOL HEALTH SERIES: Healthy eyes vital to students’ educations

Editors note: This is part two of a five part back to school health and safety series.

While parents and guardians are checking off their to-do list in preparation of sending their children to school this fall, they should remember to include an eye exam on that list.

Optometrist Randall Liebe, of Eyeowa Optical Company in Fairfield, said it is important for incoming kindergartners to have an eye exam before they start class to make sure they don't have any eye problems.

'Sometimes parents don't understand how important visual is to learning,” said Liebe. 'A high percentage of learning ability is due to visual, so if there is a problem, it is important to catch it early.”

According to the Washington County Public Health website at washph.com, a child is required by the state of Iowa to have a vision screening before entering kindergarten and third-grade. A screening will be valid if it is done up to one year before enrollment and no later than six months after enrollment for kindergartners or first day of school for third-graders.

Liebe pointed out that although it is required for kindergartners - 5 and 6 year olds - to have an eye exam, he recommends children have their first eye exam by the age of 3 or earlier if a parent suspects there could be a problem.

'If a parent sees their child is not developing and hitting milestones for their age, is clumsy or has an eye turn, it could be a sign of a visual problem,” he said.

An eye turn, he explained, occurs when one or both of a child's eyes don't follow an object.

'A child should be able to follow consistently by age 2,” he said.

The younger children are given an objective, cursory eye exam, said Liebe. The younger children often don't know the alphabet, but they usually can identify symbols, such an umbrella, a ball, a circle, a square or a house.

'We are looking for near- and farsightedness, astigmatism and lazy eye,” said Liebe. 'We want to address any concerns as soon as possible. A little bit of near- or farsightedness, a little bit of an astigmatism won't have a large affect on a child's vision, but if it is it is greater in one eye than the other, then we want to catch that early. If there is a large deficit in one or both eyes, the child will have problems in school.”

After an initial eye exam, it is suggested that the majority of children be re-examined every one to two years.

'The general rule is one year,” said Liebe. 'But if a child is mostly healthy, doesn't have eye problems and doesn't have a family history of eye problems, two years would be OK.”

But if there is a problem, a child might need to be seen every two to three months, he continued.

'Eyes change quickly at a young age,” said Liebe. Once he changed a child's prescription in just a two month span of time.

According to Liebe, parents can usually can pick up on vision problems their child might be experiencing, but sometimes a child 'is pretty good at masking problems” and an exam will help unmask them.

For more information, call the local school district or visit the website https://idph.iowa.gov/family-health/child-health/vision-screening.