Around 80% of 5 year olds have never been to an optician, expert reveals
Only 20% of 5-year-old children have had an eye test, Boots Optician David Cartwright tells us. Speaking exclusively to MadeForMums, David explains, “Kids under the age of 8 generally have an undiagnosed problem that means one eye is worse than the other.” And now we’re all living longer, David insists that looking after your eyes from an early age is even more essential. It’s important that by the age of 4 an optician has established that both eyes are working together, in order to lower the risk of problems later in life. Many parents are put off taking a child to the opticians at a young age because they can’t read, David reveals. However, children don’t need to be able to reel off the letters of the alphabet for an optician to be able to asses the health of their eyes, he insists. Concerns over the cost of eye exams are normally unfounded too, David says. The NHS offers free tests for children and most private opticians have free appointments for under 16s. It’s important that parents don’t rely on schools to supply eye tests, as many have stopped this practice.
