In focus: Boots Opticians shines a light on children’s eye health

Last week Boots Opticians launched a green paper demanding action to improve children’s eye health.

It stressed the impact of poor vision on education, literacy and engagement in sport. The paper follows research findings by the College of Optometrists showing the prevalence of childhood myopia has doubled since the 1960s.

Despite all this, a quarter of children have never had an eye test and school vision screening continued to be blighted by what the multiple described as a postcode lottery.

The green paper, entitled Seeing the Future, has been directed at parliamentarians, policy-makers and commissioners. It calls for better parent education, training for teaching staff and engagement with school governors.