Ask the Expert Series: Caring for your kids eyes
According to Singapore National Eye Centre's Myopia Centre (SNEC), by Primary 6 the myopia rate amongst children in Singapore is as high as 65% ? Hence, for this Ask the Expert Session we have TWO experts who will be answering all your questions on myopia and how to care for your kids eyes ?? These two experts are Chen Weiwen: founder of My Eye Matters and Janet Chung: Principal Optometrist, PediaOptix. So start asking your burning questions in the comments section on caring for your kids eyes!
Dear all, it has been our pleasure to address your concerns about your kids' eyes today. We are happy to answer more questions you have. Please drop us a note at [email protected], whatsapp 88501568 or visit myeyematters.com if you wish to book an appointment with Janet for an eye exam for your kid. She sees kids as young as 6 months old! Good night!
Read moreSorry was hoping to have face in my icon, but just realised that I can't do this in my PC version. Apart from being an optometrist for the past 20 years, I am also a mother of two teenagers, a girl 16years old, and a boy 14 years old. We are starting to reply your questions real soon.
Good evening everyone! I am Weiwen, founder of My Eye Matters (myeyematters.com), which is dedicated to promoting eye health and early detection of eye diseases through eye education, eye exams and eyewear at your doorstep. I look forward to seeing you later!
Hi .. my just turned 4 year old boy keep blinking his eyes in certain times these days .. his screen time bit less .. but am I need to worry or need to check up his eyes ? Pls reply asap Thankq
Ok thankq .. will check it out
Good evening Mums and Dads, my name is Janet, optometrist from PediaOptix. Glad to be here tonight to help you understand your children's eyes. See you soon.
Read moreHi when is the recommended age to start screen time on some educational and interactive programs and how long for each time? Thank You.
If you are asking an optometrist point of view, there’s no magic number to this. But the rule is to take breaks, every 20 minutes of near work (including screen), look at 20 feet away for 20 seconds- we call this the 20-20-20 rule. So there isn’t a fix rule of how much screen time. This applies for adults too. But for a young child, they shouldn’t need be subjected to the need of full day of screen time. We should allow a variety of activities for our young child, this helps cultivate good habits and healthy lifestyle. From a an expert in child development’s point of view, no screen time before the child turns 2 years old, and only 1hour for aged 2-5year old.
Hi, if my child need to wear glasses (but at a low degree), would it be advisable to take the glasses off periodically, e.g. when doing sports?
It's best that you discuss this with your optometrist as proper understanding of his/her prescription and issues like binocular vision must be considered before making the relevant advice and suggestions.
Can exposing the child to more nature like visiting gardens, nature reserve, does it help to prevent early myopia
Spending more than 2 hours outdoors a day can help to delay or prevent myopia onset, but myopia is a combination of genetic and environmental factors. For example, for a child with 2 myopic parents, 14 hours of outdoor time a week is needed to mitigate the genetic effect. How many kids in Singapore can go outdoors for 14 hours a week?:)
Can consuming more lutein, Vit A and Vit D helps to protect the eyes and delay the onset of myopia?
Lutein, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, antioxidants and beta carotene are nutrients for healthy eyes. In general, green leafy vegetables, fruits of various colours, eggs and fish are ingredients to healthy eyes. A balanced diet is crucial for keeping our eyes heathy. However this doesn’t equate to perfect eye sight and can not delay or reverse of one’s myopia. Eye protection from harmful rays like UV and blue light is equally important too.
Heard that carrots are good for the eye. What other food/nutritions shd my kids have to keep their eyes healthy?
Carrots are packed with antioxidants and beta carotene which are nutrients for healthy eyes. However this doesn’t equate to perfect eye sight or delays onset of myopia or reverses myopia. In general, green leafy vegetables, fruits of various colours, eggs and fish are ingredients to healthy eyes. A balanced diet is crucial for keeping our eyes heathy. Don't forget that protection from harmful rays like UV and blue light is equally important too.
Optometrist @PediaOptix, Mother of 2 teenage kids