Cornwall parents are urged to be aware of key signs that suggest their child is hiding their poor eyesight.

Recent research by Specsavers shows that nearly half of (47%) South West parents who took part in the survey worry that their child is covering up issues with their eyesight.  

Common behaviours most reported by parents with children aged six to 15 to suggest that they might be having sight issues include their child sitting too close to the TV (54%), frequent complaints of headaches (60%), always sitting at the front of their class (60%) and delaying bedtime to avoid reading (46%). 

However, more than half (56%) of parents admit to overlooking these behavioural signs, with 51 per cent saying they have never considered their child might need glasses. 

Specsavers clinical services director Giles Edmonds said: “A lot of parents assume that because their child doesn’t display any signs of a vision problem, there’s no need to have their eyes tested. 

“However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Ensuring your child has regular eye examinations from an early age is incredibly important for several reasons. Given more than 80 per cent of our learning, cognitive and social abilities are facilitated through our sight, it’s extremely important to your child’s overall development.  

“Poor eyesight can cause learning and behavioural problems. Conditions such as squinting and amblyopia (lazy eye) can be treated more effectively if they are picked up earlier, which could make a huge difference to your child. Lastly, an eye test doesn’t just check vision. It can also detect other underlying health conditions.”

The study shows that this might be because more than one in three (39%) parents prioritise other health appointments for their children over eye health checks, with doctors’ appointments (63%), the dentist (65%) and vaccinations (65%) taking priority.

It also further identified that the average age at which a parent first takes their child to the optician is six years-old, with half (50%) going for a routine check-up and nearly a quarter (24%) going if they have a family history of eyesight issues. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of parents (23%) admit to only going if their child’s teacher advised them to. 

Among the reasons for not booking an appointment sooner, more than two-thirds of parents (70%) said they didn’t think their child had any issues with their vision, while 40% assumed that they were conducted at school.