Our vision is a valuable sense that many take for granted, but if you have ever been hit in the eye by ball out on the playground or gotten sand in your eye during a day at the beach, you know there is no joy in having limited vision. August is Children\u2019s Eye Health and Safety Month. A time when we \u201clook\u201d at helping our children maintain their vision.<\/p>\n
According to Prevent Blindness America, parents should be aware of signs that may indicate their child has vision problems, including:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Wandering or crossed eyes
\n\u2022 A family history of childhood vision problems
\n\u2022 Disinterest in reading or viewing distant objects
\n\u2022 Squinting or turning the head in an unusual manner while watching television<\/p>\n
It is suggested that parents bring their child into an eye doctor if they notice these as signs, as some common eye problems may include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Amblyopia (lazy eye)
\n\u2022 Strabismus (crossed eyes)
\n\u2022 Ptosis (drooping of the eyelid)
\n\u2022 Color deficiency (color blindness)
\n\u2022 Refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism)<\/p>\n
The National Eye Institute provides these 10 Healthy Vision Tips to care for your and your child\u2019s eyes:
\n1. Eat right to protect your eyes. Keep your eyes healthy by eating a well-balanced diet.
\n2. Get moving. Being overweight or obese can put you at a higher risk of diabetes and other conditions that can lead to vision problems.
\n3. Speak up if your vision changes. Tell a parent or teacher if your eyes are bothering you or you notice changes in your vision.
\n4. Wear your glasses. Your glasses help you see better, especially when they\u2019re clean and free of smudges.
\n5. Keep the germs away. Always wash your hands before putting them close to your eyes, especially if you\u2019re putting in or taking out contact lenses.
\n6. Gear up. Many eye injuries can be prevented with better safety habits, such as using protective eyewear.
\n7. Wear your shades. The sun\u2019s rays can hurt your eyes. Choose sunglasses that block 99 percent or 100 percent of both UVA and UVB radiation from the sun. And remember, you should never look directly at the sun.
\n8. Give your eyes a break. Staring at any one thing for too long can tire your eyes. Give your eyes a rest with the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look about 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
\n9. Say no to smoking. Smoking can put you at risk for some pretty serious eye issues, which can lead to blindness.
\n10. Talk about it. Does anyone in your family have issues with their eyes? Not sure? Ask! Talking about eye health with your family can help all of you stay healthy.
\nFor additional information on eye problems, please visit www.preventblindness.org and\/or nei.nih.gov. For more information on other vision impairments, please contact NMPASI at 235-7273\/4 or visit us online at www.nmpasi.org.<\/p>\n
Greg Borja <\/strong> Our vision is a valuable sense that many take for granted, but if you have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[12746,1502,12747,12748],"class_list":["post-233415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters-to-the-editor","tag-healthy-vision-tips","tag-nmpasi","tag-uva","tag-uvb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNMPASI projects specialist <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"