Throughout your child’s early life, time spent outdoors is vital in helping their vision develop. It has been suggested, since children seem to spend less time outdoors than previous generations, this could be a contributing factor in the growing rates of myopic children. Try to encourage your child to spend plenty of time each day outdoors, as it could help to reduce their risk of becoming myopic.

Remember to always protect your child’s eyes with the right lenses that can block UV light.

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If your child has been diagnosed with myopia it is important to consider the amount of time they spend looking at screens throughout the day. You should ensure your child takes regular breaks from devices to give their eyes time to re-focus and allow the eye muscles to relax. Where these muscles become fatigued your child may experience eye strain which could lead to other issues, such as frequent headaches.

Some research also suggests that if a screen, device, or book is held too close, this could induce an increase in myopia. So, you should be cautious as to how closely your child is holding books, mobiles, tablets etc. to their face.

Sleep is important for any child, contributing to their development and wellbeing. For a child with myopia, a lack of sleep can increase the progression of myopia. To ensure your child gets plenty of good sleep, they should be sleeping for between 9-11 hours per night.

Although any parent would like to be able to help their child as much as possible when it comes to a diagnosis, the most important action you can take is to ensure your child visits their local optician regularly for routine eye tests. By visiting a professional who understands the diagnosis your child has received for myopia, the optician can complete routine tests to monitor the progression of myopia, offering the best solution to treat this.