Eye health, which is critical for children’s quality of life, is among the factors that directly affect school success.r.

It is very important to have your child’s eyes checked just before they start school to prevent a problem with vision from adversely affecting their adaptation to school. It is not uncommon for children who often get up from their seats and go near the blackboard because they cannot see the blackboard to be characterized as children with low school success and maladaptive children. It is sufficient to perform eye examinations every 2 years in healthy children at school age. Since children at this age are able to express themselves, their examinations do not differ significantly from those of adults. The most important difference is that if a refractive error is suspected, an examination with drops may be necessary until the age of 10-12, depending on the situation. At this age, children’s spectacle numbers can change very rapidly. Apart from routine examinations, headaches and eye pain are the exceptional conditions that require you to bring your child to the ophthalmologist as soon as possible. Apart from these, if your child complains of eye fatigue, blinks frequently, complains that he/she cannot see the blackboard or his/her achievement has dropped for no reason, squints while watching television or tends to approach the screen, a visit to the ophthalmologist is necessary. Prolonged screen activity in the preschool period is not recommended for both the child’s psychosocial development and eye health. Experts recommend limiting screen activity to one hour per day for 5-8 year olds and 2 hours per day for 9-12 year olds. This time should be divided into 2-3 parts and should never be exceeded.

September 2023