Our eyes are very precious structures of biological wizardry and every effort should be made to take care of them. If this vital sensory organ is damaged, it has a profound effect on how we interact with and experience the world around us.

It is for this reason that it is never too early to teach children about eye health and safety.This includes awareness about healthy lifestyle habits that can affect their eyes and vision as well as how to keep their eyes safe from injury and infection.

Starting off with good eye habits at a young age will help to create good habits that will promote eye and vision health for a lifetime.

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT HOW OUR BODIES PROTECT OUR EYES?

Here are a few examples of the simple yet ingenious ways in which these highly specialised organs are kept safe:

• Most of your eyeball is encased in a boney "cave" called the orbit. This minimises the effect of any trauma to the head or face, on the eyeball.
• If an object comes close to the eye, the lids are triggered to shut over the front of the eyeball in 1/10 of a second! That is an incredible speed giving credence to the phrase "in the blink of an eye".
• Your eyelashes act as "nets" catching dust particles before they land on the front of your eye.
• Your eyes produce tears. Not only do tears wash away any dust or other foreign bodies that might fall onto your eyes, but they contain specialised immune cells that act as a biological barrier to infection. Tears also keep the eye moist which stops the front of your eye from drying out.

There are many different ways in which children can be encouraged to look after their eyes. If you are able to make implementing the various options fun, your child will be far more likely to follow through with good habits.

HERE ARE A FEW IDEAS:

Your child must wear the correct protective gear whilst playing sport.

For example, eye goggles for squash and swimming, a helmet and guard for cricket or softball and goggles and helmets for skiing.

Your child should wear safety goggles if he or she is helping you in the garden, with woodwork or working with metal.

Safety goggles must be worn during science experiments at school.

Children who only have good vision in one eye should consider wearing safety glasses to protect this eye to protect this eye during his or her regular daily activities.

Did You Know?
A squash ball is the perfect size to fit through the opening of the orbit and crush the eyeball?
For such a small and soft ball, it can do an incredible amount of damage.

Educate your child that if he or she feels something in their eye, they must not rub.

As it could scratch their eyeball.

Rather encourage them to askan adult to help them wash the object out of the eye with clean water.

Persistent rubbing due to itchy eyes can damage the eyes and change the shape of the eyeball.

Please take your child to be assessed by an eye specialist as this could be the sign of a more serious underlying condition.

Did You Know?
Did you know that on average, we blink 20 000 times a day?

Children should never be allowed to play with fireworks. Every year we see the detrimental and irreversible damage that is inflicted on children's eyes

This is extremely important as glasses helps create a clear image which is transferred to the visual area of he brain.

If a child has a need for glasses and does not wear them, the image that is transferred to the brain will be blurry and the brain will become confused. Over time, the brain may start to "ignore" this unclear information coming from that eye, resulting in irreversible vision loss. The same applies to a child who wears another child's glasses.

Ensure that your child always reads in good lightning.

Remind your child to rest their eyes. With the digital age, a new concern is kids' posture when looking at screens such as tablets or mobile phones. Prevent your child from holding these digital devices too close to their eyes.

A rule of thumb is to hold the device the distance from your chin to your elbow. Also, when looking at a tv, mobile or computer screen for long periods of time, follow the 20-20-20 rule; take a break every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds, by looking at something 20 feet (6 metres) away.

Did You Know?
Remember to educate your child that staring into the laser of a laser pointer can cause irreversible eye damage.

An active lifestyle has been shown to reduce the risk of developing a number of eye diseases as well as diabetes - a disease which can result in blindness.

Smoking has been linked to increased risk of a number of vision threatening eye diseases.

Don't forget the most important tip of all – have regular annual eye check-ups by a qualified eye doctor!

Remember, school eye screenings do NOT constitute a formal eye exam. They are only checking for basic problems, but could miss a really serious condition that could adversely and permanently affect your child's vision...

By teaching your children about eye health and safety at a young age, you are instilling in them habits that will enable them to take good care of their vision for the rest of their lives.