(PRESS RELEASE) As part of Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month, and in an effort to educate parents, guardians and caregivers, the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness and the National Optometric Association (NOA) have launched “A.C.H.I.E.V.E: All Children’s Health Initiative for Eye and Vision Excellence”. The goal of the new program is to emphasize the importance of healthy vision for children and is specifically targeted to parents of minority children.
The program provides free downloadable brochures, educational materials and shareable social media graphics in English and Spanish (above).
This initiative was created because:
- Up to one in 17 young children and one in five preschool-age children enrolled in Head Start has an undiagnosed vision disorder.
- Without early detection and treatment, uncorrected vision disorders can impair child development, interfere with learning, and even lead to permanent vision loss.
- Visual functioning is a strong predictor of academic performance in school-age children.
- Non-Hispanic children aged 0-17 years whose primary language at home was not English had the lowest percentage of vision testing as compared to children in homes where English or Spanish were spoken.
- Children in families with greater household income are more likely to have received vision testing.
The ACHIEVE initiative also offers a free Webinar Series, designed for parents as well as educators, and caregivers. Topics discussed will include education on the importance of children’s eye care, signs for the need of an eye testing, low cost or free vision resources and other great information. The first in the series, “Envisioning the Vision Health of US Children,” will be conducted by NOA leader, Dr. Edwin Marshall on Wed., Aug. 26, 2020 from 1-1:30pm EST. Register here.