Why do so many little kids have glasses these days?

[Anonymous]

I’m talking preschoolers and elementary schoolers. There were relatively fewer kids in my day. And I was born in 1987 so it’s not like it was the stone ages where no one was taking eye exams.

[Anonymous]

I haven't seen this at all.

[Anonymous]

Our doctor has some sort of device hooked to an iPhone that helps detect vision issues. Maybe earlier detection is possible now?

[Anonymous]

Screen time

[Anonymous]

More kids that are born prematurely can survive, but it often causes eye problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More kids that are born prematurely can survive, but it often causes eye problems.

Also with twins, it's common for the smaller twin to have eye problems (and yes, twins are often born early).

[Anonymous]

In our case, it was early detection (and subsequent monitoring) due to what I assume are new standard screenings. My daughter failed a screening (with some sort of camera device) at her 1 year old appointment that resulted in us starting to see an opthamologist annually. She is now 6 and just got her first glasses.

I, on the other hand, was unable to see in school for years before spectacularly failing a school-mandated eye check when I was in the 3rd grade and getting my first glasses then.

[Anonymous]

Lack of enough outdoor time
https://www.stockdaleoptometry.com/blog/does-outside-playtime-improve-childrens-eyesight

[Anonymous]

Preemies

[Anonymous]

Preemies + early detection.

My vision problems weren’t detected until second grade. They could be less if they had known sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More kids that are born prematurely can survive, but it often causes eye problems.

Ah, actually this makes a lot of sense

[Anonymous]

Screens

[Anonymous]

So, when I was in school-it wasn't unheard of that the 'kid who can't read' in 2nd grade, actually couldn't SEE well.

I'm going with early detection, and also preemies.

[Anonymous]

The survival rates for most preemies born in the 80s and today are similar. We can save the very early edge cases now that generally wouldn’t have survived 40 years ago though. But that’s only a small fraction of preemies.

It’s mostly early detection and early intervention.

[Anonymous]

Doctors are also prescribing glasses for very minor myopia. My optometrist just straight up said back in the day, they would have never prescribed my youngest glasses.