Back to school: they assure that there are 70,000 children with some visual deficiency

The evaluation and early detection of ocular pathology and visual deficits must be guaranteed from the health system. According to the WHO, there are 7.5 million school-age children in the world with some type of visual impairment and only 25% present symptoms.

In our country it is estimated that There are 70,000 children who suffer from some ophthalmological disorder.

Ophthalmological control in children

“Thanks to the campaigns carried out by the Argentine Society of Children’s Ophthalmology (SAOI), which try to reach all children earlier, improved the early detection of pathologies. But we must continue on this path, with the help of pediatricians, teachers and family members, with the purpose of helping to provide greater opportunities to children in their school performance and social integration,” explains Dr. Carolina Jose (MN 115.197), coordinator of the Children’s Ophthalmology Section of the Austral University Hospital.

“The pediatric ophthalmologists of the Argentine Society of Children’s Ophthalmology recommend fundus checks with pupillary dilation from birth, at least in the first trimester of birth. Then 6 months after that first control, subsequently once a year during childhood, also including visual acuity, ocular motility, stereopsis, color vision, biomicroscopy, refraction study, among others,” continues the specialist.

These Controls are key, right now that classes start, since approximately 80% of the information that reaches our brain is visual. In that sense, vision is much more than having perfect visual acuity. It involves capturing visual information, processing it, obtaining meaning, to be able to interpret and understand everything that surrounds us.

“Consequently, any learning, and much more so that of reading, is achieved more easily if both eyes are used efficiently and the brain processes these images appropriately. When these visual skills fail, the processing and interpretation of visual information can be the cause of a learning problem. says Dr. Jose.

Ways to realize for an ophthalmological check-up

There are symptoms that, being held in the family or school environment, should motivate the advancement of ophthalmological control. For example, difficulty focusing vision at different distances, winking of one or both eyes to read, change in head position to focus, which can involve torticollis, deviation of the eyes and double vision, among others.

“Although in many casess we may notice symptoms, such as problems reading the blackboard in class or watching TV or; attention and concentration deficit or poor school performance; deviation of one eye permanently or intermittently; presence of headache, or low eye-hand coordination, manifested in difficulty catching a ball or other precision activity, one in four children with visual problems does not present symptoms, signs or discomfort,” observes the coordinator of the Ophthalmology Section Children of the Austral University Hospital.

The most prominent pathologies in an ophthalmology consultation

The pathologies most detected in the usual consultation are refraction defectssuch as myopia, astigmatism and hyperopia, which cause visual difficulties and as a consequence in school life and learning, but which can be detected in time to treat them, improving visual development.

“A significant increase in myopia is detected, the refraction defect that causes difficulty in seeing from a distance, due to the excessive and continuous use, without breaks, of close fixation technology, such as mobile phones and tablets, in dark environments, without natural light. Consequently, All pediatric ophthalmologists are in a constant education campaign about the proper use of technology.with parents and teachers, to prevent this pathology, which brings serious ophthalmological problems in the long term,” he reflects.

“Other less common pathologies, but which we must always rule out in our ophthalmological evaluation, are cataracts in childhood, which cause opacity of the visual axis, preventing that eye from learning to see, which is known as amblyopia or lazy eye, and also , due to its severity, the presence of intraocular or periocular tumors”, adds the doctor.

Conclusion, Dr. Carolina Jose (MN 115.197)coordinator of the Children’s Ophthalmology Section of the Austral University Hospital, emphasizes that, “to maintain good visual health in children it is It is very important to carry out the controls established for early detection, since each stage of childhood determines important changes in the ocular structures and the visual pathway, and silent pathologies may appear that, diagnosed in time, are treated, improving development and visual prognosis. Our main premise is that we must arrive on time with the ophthalmological evaluation, guaranteeing equality for all children.”