New Survey Reveals Vision Is Deprioritized by Parents in Children’s Overall Health

Friday, December 6 2019 | 13 h 58 min | News

A new survey from The Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC) reveals that while parents remain focused on their children’s overall success, only 57% make regular appointments to stay on top of their children’s health.

Parents ranked annual visits to the eye doctor as less important than visits to the dentist or pediatrician. In fact, only 27% of parents reported taking their children to an optometrist in the past year. This may be due to the misperceptions the survey also revealed about what comprehensive eye exams entail.

For example, while most parents (85%) said they were at least somewhat familiar with comprehensive eye exams, 88% also believed that comprehensive exams aren’t needed until their children enter school, and nearly half (48%) believed that a pediatrician could conduct them. In reality, an annual comprehensive eye exam should be scheduled for children as early as six months old, can only be conducted by an eye care specialist, and are vital to diagnosing common vision problems like myopia, or nearsightedness, which can increase the risk of eye diseases later in life.

Unlike regular visits to the dentist or pediatrician, parents reported waiting until something is “wrong,” like their children telling them they can’t see the whiteboard (66%), seeing their children squint more than normal (62%), or seeing their children hold materials far away (52%), in order to take them in for a comprehensive eye exam.

“We know parents will do just about anything to help their kids succeed, and healthy vision plays a big role in that, whether a child is able to express it to their parents or not,” said Matt Oerding, Co-Founder and CEO of Treehouse Eyes and GMAC Board Chairman. “Knowing your children’s potential risk of myopia and taking action before it’s too late can benefit their academic and athletic performance, personal growth and overall health.”

GMAC is committed to increasing public awareness about myopia and ensuring parents set their children up for success today and in the future.

Click HERE for the full press release.