The Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) has released survey results regarding children’s eye health.
ABDO board member and dispensing optician Daryl Newsome has appeared on radio stations conducting interviews with over 2,000 UK parents with children under the age of 11. The research found that 33% of parents thought kids should have an eye test for the first time when they start school and one in seven parents thought children had to be at least five years old to have an eye test.
Interestingly, 20% of parents believed children need to be able to read to have their eyes tested.
Newsome said: ‘During the interviews I spoke about signs that may indicate a child’s eye health is not developing as it should, reminded parents that children can have a sight tests, free of charge via the NHS, and explained that August is the ideal month to do this before they return to school.’