Toddlers' and Children's Eyes

The best way to help keep your child's eyes healthy is through regular professional eye examinations.  So have your child's eyes examined—by your pediatrician or a licensed eye doctor.  But there are other things you can do.

Nutrition and Exercise

A balanced diet can make the difference in everyone's overall health and wellness. While selections from all four food groups are important in everyone’s daily menu, some foods offer vitamins and minerals that boost eye health and help develop and maintain vision. 
 

• Fortify your child's vision.  The average diet includes only a fraction of the nutrients recommended for healthy vision.  Be sure your child is getting enough antioxidants like vitamin A, C, and E. Lutein and omega-3 fatty acids.
• Keep them active.  As if you have a choice.  Exercise improves blood circulation, which improves oxygen levels to the eyes and the removal of toxins.
• Avoid the junk food.  Especially now - toddlers and children love healthy snacks.  High-fat diets can cause deposits that constrict blood flow in the arteries. The eyes are especially sensitive to this, given the small size of the blood vessels that feed them. 

 

Sun Safety

• Protect their eyes – be sure those cute sunglasses offer the protection your child needs; choose sunglasses with both UVA and UVB protection, to block both forms of ultraviolet rays.
• A hat with a brim will help block indirect sun, which can come into the eyes around the edges of sunglasses.  Look for a hat with a three-inch brim (most baseball caps fit the bill).