Poor vision in children is a very common health problem in children these days. Usually the children between 10- 15 years of age face the problem of poor vision.

These causes of poor vision in children are:

• Refractive error
• Cataract
• Glaucoma
• Squint (strabismus)
• Injury to the eye
• Diseases of cornea
• Diseases of retina and optic nerve
• Inherited disorders
• Tumor (Retinoblastoma)

If the poor vision in child is not treated early, the eye may not develop properly and develop a condition called amblyopia (lazy eye) or even tumor (retinoblastoma). If the child has poor vision in only one eye, then it is termed as squint (strabismus). The most common symptom of poor vision can be whiteness of the cornea or whiteness behind the pupil.

Amblyopia

Amblyopia is an eye problem that causes poor vision in children. It is also called the lazy eye. Amblyopia usually affects one of the eyes. It occurs when the path that carries vision messages from one of the eyes to the brain don't grow strong enough. The brain then favors the other eye, and the child’s vision does not develop normally. It is the most common cause of vision problems in children. Anything that happens to blur the vision or cause the eyes to be crossed during childhood may cause amblyopia. Children who need glasses to see better, or have cataracts, or a droopy eyelid may also get amblyopia.

The vision path in the brain must become strong early, when children are very young. After a child is 8 to 10, the brain's vision system is complete. If the amblyopia is not treated by this age, the child will have poor vision for life.

Retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is a cancer of the eye in children. It originates from the retina. It is the common eye tumor of the eye in childhood. There are two forms of the disease; a genetic, heritable form and a non-genetic, non-heritable form.

The most common symptom of retinoblastoma is an abnormal appearance of the pupil, leukocoria. Other symptoms include deterioration of vision, a red and irritated eye, faltering growth or delayed development.

Strabismus

Also known as Squint, it is a misalignment of the two eyes so that both the eyes are not looking in the same direction. This misalignment may be constant, being present throughout the day, or it may appear sometimes. It is a very common condition among children. A loss of coordination between the muscles of the two eyes leads to this misalignment. Sometimes a refractive error hypermetropia can lead to inward deviation of the eye.

Strabismus is often referred to as crossed eye and wall eye. Cross-eyed means that when a person with strabismus looks at an object, one eye fixates the object and the other fixates with a convergence angle less than zero. Wall-eyed means that when a person with strabismus looks at an object, one eye fixates the object and the other fixates with a convergence angle greater than zero.