Essential Steps for Protecting the Entire Family’s Eye Health

When it comes to family health, parents must be proactive and invest in preventive care to ensure holistic wellness for everyone. Thus, a previous post on how parents can take better care of their kids includes health tips, such as staying updated on vaccinations and applying sunscreen to minimise sun damage. Meanwhile, focusing on oral health involves brushing teeth and flossing regularly, with extra attention paid to the right type of toothbrush and toothpaste used for your kids’ age bracket.

Parents must also focus on eye care, considering the rising cases of eye conditions like dry eyes, paediatric myopia, and age-related presbyopia in the UK. Below are essential steps you can take to ensure the entire family has optimal vision and eye health.

Schedule regular eye exams

When planning routine check-ups with the family physician, make sure to also contact an optometrist and include eye exams in your health agenda. Although they’re sometimes overlooked in annual care checklists, comprehensive eye exams are an effective way to monitor vision health and identify risk factors for various eye conditions, like refractive errors and cataracts. 

For children, in particular, early detection of myopia can help prevent or delay progression by prescribing the right type of corrective eyewear. If you have financial concerns, the NHS can cover sight tests to reduce out-of-pocket costs.

Use protective eyewear

Besides applying sunscreen, family members must also wear sunglasses when outdoors, as the sun’s ultraviolet rays can also affect the eyes and degrade vision. On the online retailer Sunglass Hut, your choice of protective eyewear ranges from everyday shades from stylish brands like Michael Kors to high-performance eyewear specialised for sports and outdoor activities, such as the Prada Linea Rossa collection.

If your kids are diagnosed with refractive errors like myopia, Miraflex’s range of children’s eyewear helps balance vision correction with sun safety. Specifically, the brand’s lightweight eyeglass frames support magnetic clip-ons for polarised lenses with UV protection.

Regulate screen time

In this technology-driven age, always ensure healthy screen time among family members. Regardless of whether you and your kids use phones, tablets, or computers, screen use has been identified as a risk factor for dry eye disease, a chronic and painful eye condition affecting 34% of people in the UK.

You can start by reminding everyone about the 20-20-20 rule, which entails giving your eyes a break every 20 minutes by staring at objects at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Reducing screen time is also possible through parental control and time limits for apps and devices.

Eat a healthy diet

Lastly, don’t forget that dietary choices can influence eye health, as certain nutrients can have a protective effect against vision degradation and other eye conditions like age-related macular degeneration. 

An eye-healthy diet consists of various fruits, vegetables, oily fish, whole grains, and nuts. Oily fish like salmon contain omega-3 fatty acids, which help combat the symptoms of dry eye syndrome. Meanwhile, dark leafy greens like kale and spinach are excellent sources of carotenoids, which otherwise neutralise free radicals from the sun’s damaging UV rays. Make sure to refer to the UK’s current nutritional guidelines to determine the right portions of food groups for your family’s daily meals.

Since healthy vision is crucial to how you and your family work, learn, and live, keep these eye-care tips in mind to protect your eyes and overall health in the long term.