Only one in five children have eyes tested, Australian figures show

The Optometrists Association Australia is urging parents to have their children's eyes tested as new figures show that only 19 per cent of school-aged children had their eyes tested in the past financial year.

Medicare figures show that just over 526,000 Australian children aged 5 to 14 were tested in the period from July 2006 to June 2007, which represents less than a fifth of Australia's population in that age group.

Optometrists Association Australia (OAA) Professional Services Manager, Shirley Loh says that while rates of testing have risen in the last few years they are still too low. Further research shows that one in four school-aged children suffer from an undetected vision problem.

"Many parents don't realise that undiagnosed vision problems can result in learning or behavioural difficulties for children as they struggle to read, see the board or focus on the computer screen at school," says Ms Loh.

"Parents have no reason to be complacent when it comes to their child's vision. Eye examinations are covered under Medicare with more than 95 per cent of optometric services bulk-billed."

"Most vision problems can be corrected but early detection is the key to reducing their impact. It is important to have children's eyes examined by an optometrist every two years," she said.

Ms Loh says that parents should be watchful for any of the symptoms that may indicate their child has a vision problem while they are completing homework, reading, playing video games and watching television.

Some of the common symptoms of vision problems in a child include; frequent blinking, excessive eye movements, books being held very close to read, confusion of similar words, squinting or frowning to see objects in the distance, complaints of headaches or sore eyes and tilting of the head excessively to one side, up or down.

The Optometrists Association Australia (OAA) has developed a checklist for parents to help recognise possible vision problems in children, as well as tips on television watching, reading, the use of video games and UV protection. These materials can be found on the OAA website.