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Eye Problems in Children
Childhood blindness in India has not been given its due importance as compared to other causes of blindness and visual impairment.
Eye care for children is much different from that for an adult. A child’s ability to see develops rapidly in the first months and years of life. One can notice very early that babies use their eyes to locate people and objects.
If any unusual visual behaviour of the child is observed, an immediate eye examination should be sought. At an entry level in school, an eye test should be made mandatory.
Common Eye Problems in Children
Refractive Error
Refractive Error is the most common eye problem found among children.
- Near-sightedness (myopia) makes far-away objects look blurry
- Farsightedness (hyperopia) makes nearby objects look blurry
- Astigmatism can make far-away and nearby objects look blurry or distorted
Symptoms of myopia include:
- Complaints of blurry vision (like not being able to see the board in school)
- Squinting to try to see better
- Frequent eye rubbing
- Frequent headaches
Symptoms of Hyperopia
- Headaches or fatigue after near vision activities, such as reading, writing, or computer use
- Eye strain caused by squinting or other accommodations to keep images and objects in focus
- Images or objects appearing blurry at close distance, while distance vision remains clear
- Holding material like books, a mobile phone or tablet at arm’s length
- Inward eye turn when trying to focus
Symptoms of Astigmatism
- Sensitive to Light, Squinting, Eye Rubbing, Reading books too close.
- Headache & Eye Strain
Other Eye Problems in Children
Strabismus is a common eye condition among children. It is when the eyes are not lined up properly and they point in different directions (misaligned). One eye may look straight ahead while the other eye turns in, out, up, or down. The misalignment can shift from one eye to the other.
Amblyopia is when vision in one or both eyes does not develop properly during childhood. It is sometimes called lazy eye. Amblyopia is a common problem in babies and young children.
A child’s vision develops in the first few years of life. It is important to diagnose and treat amblyopia as early as possible. Otherwise, a child with amblyopia will not develop normal, healthy vision
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is an eye disease in some premature babies born before 31 weeks. (A full-term pregnancy is about 38–42 weeks.) It is a problem that affects the tissue at the back of the eye called the retina.
India: 3 519 100 pre term babies. Babies with a birth weight of less than 1700 grams or those born in under 35 weeks of pregnancy are most likely to have ROP.
Child Eye Problems Parents Should Never Ignore
- Blinking or Rubbing
- Spots on the White of the Eye
- Dilated Eyes/Large Pupils
- Seeing Spots in Vision
- Discomfort or Itchiness
- Sleeping With Eyes Open
- Misaligned Eyes
- Head Tilting or Covering One Eye
- Crust or Goop in Eyes
Nisha Solanki belongs to a large family of two brothers and four sisters (of whom 3 are married). Both her brothers and elder sister attend school. Nisha’s father is mentally challenged. The responsibility of earning is on the mother, who is a daily wage farm labourer and grandmother, who tends to her goats. Two earing members for a family of ten.
Blindness in children leads to deep impact on psychological, emotional, and socioeconomic growth to the family. A child with blindness is more likely to have delays in developmental milestones, to be more frequently hospitalized, and die during childhood than a sighted child. Such severe vision loss also adversely effects the educational activities, orientation, and mobility from the early stage of life resulting in lack of employment privilege. These differential characteristics between a sighted and non-sighted child is more obvious in developing countries. Moreover, the disability adjusted life years (DALY) loss in a blind child is far more than that of adults with blindness.