Report: 1 in 10 infants have vision problems

September 2, 2010

A new report released by the American Optometric Association indicates that 1 in 10 infants have undetected eye problems. Though most infants are born with good vision, the study indicated that a mere 19 percent of parents took a child to the optometrist before the infant's first birthday, according to EMaxHealth.com.

One third of parents wait until their child is between one and two years old, while an alarming 26 percent wait until the child is five years of age or older. Optometrists urge parents to take infants in for an eye examination early, even if the child does not exhibit any issues with their vision.

Vision problems that effect infants but may not be detected without the help of an eye doctor include lazy eye, crossed eyes, farsightedness, nearsightedness and cancers.

"The good news about a trip to the optometrist is that most babies seem to enjoy the 'games' we use to determine whether their visual development is progressing normally and their eyes are healthy," Dr glen Steel, chair of the InfantSEE committee, told the news source.

According to the American Optometric Association, babies should begin to follow moving objects with their eyes by the time they reach three months of age.