Medical Minute: Back-To-School Eye Exams

Are eye exams for your kids on your back-to-school to-do list? Doctors say they should be. 

As families prepare for the school season this August, which is also Children's Eye Health and Safety month, pediatric ophthalmologists are sharing the importance of children's vision and the health of their eyes, saying it's critical to get a regular vision screenings to detect and correct eye problems early.

A comprehensive exam is also a good idea because many vision disorders may not only go undetected in children but may be misdiagnosed as ADHD, dyslexia and other learning disabilities or behavioral problems, according to the American Optometric Association.

Another reason to have an exam with a professional? Some conditions like amblyopia, or lazy eye, can be silent and missed at school vision screenings, Dr. Daniel Cyr, a pediatric ophthalmologist with Stony Brook Medicine, told CBS News. 

Cyr recommends children have their eyes checked by a pediatric ophthalmologist at least once before starting school. Parents should also make sure they're screened at their annual well visit.

"It's really important that all children have their eyes checked before school, because we have seen that in recent large well-controlled studies that children who have refractive error, need for glasses and have that corrected do better on their standardized testing scores," Cyr said. 

With adults and children spending more time on devices, myopia or nearsightedness is increasing, which can cause eye fatigue and strain.

"I like to talk to them about the 20-20-20 rule," Cyr said. "After 20 minutes of focus near work, you take a 20 second break and look at something 20 feet away. That allows the eyes to unfocus so that you can see up close to relax and that allows the eyes to relax. And that also allows you time to blink too."