By Nigel Little 

Contact lenses for children  can be worn from a young age yet many parents not only appear unaware of this but also seem equally unaware of the importance of getting their children's eye health checked regularly starting from even before they begin school. Indeed, a recent research survey commissioned by Vision Express revealed that almost forty per cent of parents of primary school children had never taken their child for an eye tear whilst a staggering near ninety per cent of these parents did not know that the nationally recommended initial screening age for their children was five years. So it is hardly surprising to learn that almost seventy per cent of parents were not worried about their child's eye health.

The survey suggests that parents are more concerned about their hair than their children's eye sight since regular visits to the salon contrast markedly with the limited visits - if any - that they make to the optician with their children. Again unsurprisingly, many parents acknowledge that they would not be able to recognize the indications of poor eye health in their children and did not know that a routine eye examination could also help to detect more serious conditions such as retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer. However, most importantly, impaired vision may jeopardise a child's learning ability and personal development in terms of being able to take an active role in all activities which is where contact lenses for children  can provide an excellent corrective solution.

Since all children under the age of 16 can have a free eye test on the NHS, there is no excuse for parents not to book an appointment with an optician for their child. For those children who are diagnosed with some form of vision impairment, it is worth considering contact lenses rather than glasses to correct the impairment - even for children as young as eight years old - since various studies have shown that children in contacts have greater self confidence and may also be less susceptible to being bullied. And now with the new ortho-k corrective contact lenses for children  which are only worn at night while sleeping, there is a treatment for shortsightedness which not only gives the child perfect daytime vision without needing to wear anything but also prevents their shortsightedness getting worse .

Check if your child is suitable for ortho-k corrective contact lenses  for children.