The Urgency of Ensuring Healthy Children’s Vision: Our Next Generation’s Future Depends Upon It 

Too many children in our country do not have access to eye care providers, vision screenings, comprehensive eye exams, or treatment due to economic inequalities, cultural and language barriers, overall health literacy barriers,² and inconsistent vision screening requirements.^3-4

The magnitude of this problem increases dramatically around the globe. Worldwide, 90 million children are living with sight loss.⁵ Most visual impairments can be prevented through early detection and treatment,⁶ and leaving these impairments unaddressed can have social and academic consequences that may impact the trajectory of a child’s life.^7-8

That is why, this World Sight Day, an annual day of awareness for blindness and visual impairment led by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), parents, communities, and business leaders must come together to advocate for greater access to children’s eye care through effective, actionable, and cost-efficient interventions such as regular children’s vision screenings, as well as comprehensive eye exams for children who do not pass their screenings.⁹

Children’s vision can’t wait: addressing growing eye health disparities before it’s too late

What if I told you academic and social struggles may be attributed to undetected visual impairments?^7-8,10

If you’ve noticed a difference in a child in your life, like slipping grades or sitting out on the playground for fear of falling, getting hurt, or embarrassing themselves, poor eyesight might be to blame.

Research shows that children who are visually impaired progress at a slower pace than their peers, which increases their risk for social withdrawal.⁷ Alarmingly, children with visual impairments also experience higher rates of anxiety and depression.¹⁰

Meanwhile, in the classroom, clear vision is the bedrock of academic success, as studies indicate that 80% of classroom learning is visual, leaving visually impaired children at a major disadvantage.¹¹ Children learn how to read in their first few years of school. In the following years, children use this foundation so that they can read to learn. Yet, visual impairments make it all the more difficult to achieve this next level of learning. Unfortunately, these early learning roadblocks compound and can perpetuate socioeconomic disparities.⁸

Further, projections show that childhood visual impairment and blindness in the United States are on the cusp of a surge.¹² With the number of children who are visually impaired and blind expected to increase, and the rate of pediatric vision screenings on a steady decline, access barriers pose a growing threat to our next generation that requires immediate response.¹²

What we can do to help: a call to action for increased access to school vision screenings

By recommendation from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), children should have a vision screening test every year from the ages of 3-5, and every 1-2 years after the age of 5.⁹

However, not every state in the US requires vision screenings for children, and the rules for vision screenings vary from state to state.^3-4 In fact, only six states stipulate pediatric vision screenings at least every two years, half require screenings for preschool-aged children, and six do not necessitate vision screenings at all.^3-4

Without state-promoted vision screening programs within communities or schools, many children who lack insurance, live in underserved areas, or whose families do not have adequate knowledge about vision care due to language barriers, for instance, fall through the cracks.²

Even in states that require screenings, schools may lack the resources to deliver them. To help fill in these gaps and do our part to ensure that no child is left behind, we have been partnering with organizations to provide vision screenings to children in Fort Worth, Texas, for over a decade. In 2021, we launched the Alcon Children’s Vision Program, in which Alcon volunteers, school nurses, and other partners work to provide free vision screening for students in grades pre-kindergarten through fifth.¹¹ Two years later, we opened the Alcon Children’s Vision Center, offering onsite comprehensive eye exams, prescription glasses, and year-round access to eye care to students, from kindergarten through twelfth grade.¹¹ And, earlier this year, the Alcon Children’s Vision Program expanded in Huntington, West Virginia, where Alcon associates are providing vision screenings to local students of Cabell County Schools.

In 2023 alone, we were proud to have screened more than 30,000 children in Fort Worth, Texas, and we aim to conduct 150,000 vision screenings by 2025.¹¹ Through this program, I have seen what the future of eye care access can look like and implore others to help us make this dream a reality.

As part of our core mission to expand access to eye care, we believe that it is our duty to encourage parents, business leaders, and policy makers to push for increased attention, funding, and resources for pediatric vision screenings and exams in schools across the United States in line with the recommendation of the AAO so that every child has the opportunity to see and live brilliantly.

With the uneven availability of vision screening in elementary schools, we also urge the private sector to leverage their resources and their personnel to establish programs that bring screenings and necessary exams to students at the earliest age and collaborate further with the public sector to drive transformation and bring children the eye care they desperately need to succeed. Together, we ensure every child has the screenings, intervention, and ongoing care they need to See Brilliantly.