Vision development of young children usually get mature at around 3 years old, but binocular coordination, eye movement, focus adjustment and other functions would have been developed till adolescence. When children often watch TV or use smart phones and tablets, it does not only prone to myopia, but will also affect the normal development of visual function and even increase the risk inthe future of suffering from various eye diseases. Take a look at the following analysis and recommendations to advise how parents should learn to protect children's eye health.
Understand the children’s eye health condition by observing their behavior
If you want to take good care of children's eye health, parents should observe their children's eyes to see whether there is anything wrong. As younger children do not know how to express whether or not the image is clear or fuzzy, they should also pay attention to their daily habits in order to avoid some of the bad habits which will hurt their eyes and vision. If the following symptoms appear, we recommend detailed eye examination as soon as possible.
- Blink or seize eyes frequently, particularly sensitive to light
- When reading a book, s/he narrows his/her eyes or often moves to a wrong place
- Often complaint of headache or dizziness
- Often squint or head moving to side while reading
- Occasionally blurred vision
- Hop-skip reading or re-reading words, slow reading or writing
- Not able to see the words clearly on blackboard
How to ensure the normal development of children's vision?
- Avoid prolonged visual fixation on electronic displays (such as smart phones, computers, etc.), let the eye rest for 5 minutes every 20-30 minutes, look at something distant or close the eyes for rest
- Conduct more ball games which helps with children hand-eye coordination, visual function and binocular coordination development
- When reading or writing, distance is preferably maintained at about 40cm, not lying down or lying on the side while reading a book or watching TV
- Ensure that the sitting posture is appropriate and there is sufficient lighting while reading or writing
- The top of TV or computer screen should be level with or slightly lower than the child’s eyes; keep the screen and eyes in an appropriate distance (TV: 2.5 times of the diagonal length of the screen, computer: about 50-60cm, smart phone or tablet: about 40cm)
- Conduct regular ophthalmic testing
Healthy food which enhances eye health
- Purple and blue fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries, eggplant, purple cabbage, etc. are rich in anthocyanins, which can protect the retina and maintain healthy vision
- Orange fruits and vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin and other orange are rich in carotene, they are the best source of vitamin A which can enhance vision. Their richness in lutein and zeaxanthin may help filter out harmful blue lights to protect the health of the macula
- Beef, germ, spinach, cashews, pine nuts, etc. can provide rich amount of zinc to maintain healthy development of eyes and optic nerve
You can also prepare some healthy and delicious snacks for your children. Here is one delicious treat with eye and macular protection benefits for your little ones!
CATALO Children’s Eye Health Formula is specially formulated to protect the health of the eye for children. Containing Mirtoselect® European Bilberry Extract with standardized 36% Anthocyanins, US patented ingredient FloraGLO™ Marigold Extract with standardized 10% Lutein and 1% Zeaxanthin, Lycopene Extract, Eyebright Extract, Taurine and Zinc, it relieves eye fatigue and dryness due to prolonged reading, thus improves vision sharpness. It may also helps to protect the macular by filtering harmful lights, strengthen healthy retina and neural development. With natural blueberry flavor, the chewable tablet is delicious with no bitter taste and easy to chew.