Near-sightedness or myopia in kids can sometimes be missed. The child may be too young to tell if something’s wrong with their eyesight and/or can go about their daily activities as usual.

With 65% of children in Singapore estimated to be myopic by Primary 6, it is important for parents to take your child’s eye health seriously and recognise signs that point to an onset of myopia.

Here are five signs related to daily activities that could indicate that your child has myopia.

1. Squinting to see distant objects
   

   If your child is always staring at the classroom whiteboard with furrowed brows, it may not be because he’s deep in thought over the subject being taught, but because he can’t see what his teacher has written on the whiteboard.

2. Moving closer when watching TV
   

   Inching closer to the screen could mean that your child is getting more and more engrossed in the TV programme, or it could also mean your child can’t see clearly from where he was sitting.

3. Misreading the wrong bus number or missing a ball
   

   Blurry vision caused by myopia may result in your child boarding bus number 16 instead of 10, or he may be missing all the shuttlecocks coming his way during a game of badminton… and not because he’s a game novice.

4. Frequent rubbing of eyes
   

   It’s not yet bedtime, but your child keeps rubbing his eyes. This may be because he’s trying to relieve the discomfort caused by eye strain.

5. Getting constant headaches

   Excessive eye strain may lead to headaches at the end of the day.

If you notice any of the above tell-tale signs, it is time to get your child’s eyes checked.

The Importance of Regular Eye Checks

In Singapore, vision screenings are conducted yearly for pre-schoolers and Primary 1 to 4 students.

As more children are affected by myopia and at an increasingly early age, parents are also advised to monitor and look out for signs that may indicate a deterioration in their child’s vision in between such yearly vision screenings.

Timely detection and management can help to reduce your child’s risk of developing high myopia, which may lead to severe vision impairment later in life. Ensure your child receives an eye check every six months.

Myopia can’t be cured, but its progression can be slowed down

Parents tend to opt for single vision lenses as a solution for their child’s myopia but such lenses can only correct myopia, not slow down its progression. On the other hand, myopia management spectacle lenses help to send a slowdown signal to the eyes which aid in slowing down eye elongation, which is the cause for worsening myopia.

Essilor® Stellest® Lenses have been clinically proven to slow down myopia progression by 67% on average compared to single vision lenses, when worn at least 12 hours a day^[1].

Using “H.A.L.T*” technology – Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target – Essilor® Stellest® Lenses are made up of a cutting-edge constellation of 1021 invisible** lenslets, which creates a volume of signal in the child’s eye acting as a shield against eye elongation. . They are comfortable and easy to adapt for children, with no compromises.

 

Learn more about Essilor® Stellest® Lenses here or find an Essilor Expert near you today here.

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[1] Compared to single vision lenses, when worn 12 hours a day. Two-year prospective, controlled, randomized, double-masked clinical trial results on 54 myopic children wearing Stellest® lenses compared to 50 myopic children wearing single vision lenses. Efficacy results based on 32 children who declared wearing Stellest®lenses at least 12 hours per day every day. Bao J. et al. (2021). Myopia control with spectacle lenses with aspherical lenslets: a 2-year randomized clinical trial. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.; 62(8):2888.

* Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target
** Aesthetic finish