School session reveals failings

Optometrist Jonathan Cohen has called on the government to introduce statutory sight checks for children after his own eye-screening session in a London school revealed that almost 40 per cent of 4-10 year-olds screened failed a basic visual test.

For his research, Cohen, who runs Zacks Eye Clinics in London, examined children in a local school with a very diverse ethnic mix. 'Of those that followed up the screening with a full examination, 95 per cent, needed glasses,' he explained.

'We were able to improve visual acuity by 50 per cent by recommending glasses the biggest improvement we achieved was a four-fold increase for a child whose sight was improved from 20:80 to 20:20.'