Daughter's eyesight

[Suzy4231]

Hi,

I wear glasses and have done since I was 4. My eyesight is absolutely appalling and i'd hate her to suffer in the same way.

My daughter is now 4 and i'm concerned that she's going to need glasses. Does any know if there any sort of genetic link between a parent's eyesight and their offsprings'?

Suzy

Whether there is or not it's best to have it checked.

DD2s long sight was picked up at her 36 month exam which I don't think they do any more. As she ws referred to the Eye CLinic she still has regular visits three years later.

With DD1 I just take her to the opticians once a year. Our short sight did not kick in till the teens (DH and me) but it's good to have them checked over......

Just glad that glasses are so much better than they were when we were young

My son has inherited my eyesight.

You can take your children for an eye test from the age of 3.

Because they have started work with ds's eyes now they said there is a high probability that he will no longer need glasses by the time he is 7.

Book your daughter in for a eye test and if she does need glasses you will then have to spend hours deciding between all the gorgeous frames they have now!!

Thanks for that.

I've been taking her to get her eyes checked every year and so far she seems to be ok thankfully. I think though she's starting to squnt a little but the optician didn't seem to concerned at all.

Her little brother wears glasses already though.

Refractive error, like being short-sighted or long-sighted, has genetic components.

For short-sightedness (the inability to see things in the distance clearly) it's about:

25% if neither parent is short-sighted.
40% if 1 parent is short-sighted.
60% if 2 parents are short-sighted.

The numbers are for Caucasians but you get the idea.

However, short-sightedness tends to develop nearer the age of 10.

Significant ong-sightedness is also highly heritable but the relationship is messier.
And significant long-sightedness tends to present earlier.

Some areas have a pre-scholl vision check but you go to an opticians and get a check if you're not in one of those areas.

P.S. You mention a squint. That seems to have two different meanings depending on local dialect.

Do you mean the narrowing eyes by partailly closing the eyelids or the turning of an eye in or out?

The former is normally nothing serious but a turn in the eye should have been well investigated and discussed with you.

Does that make sense?

Thanks for the info DBennet.

Yes the squint is the narrowing of her eyes when she's looking into the distance, rather than anything else. I didn't realise the percentages for shortsightedness are so high if the parent wears glasses, that's really shocking!

I took her to the opticians today in fact and he recomended that she should wear glasses for her shortsightness, although it wasn't essential. What you do you think?

I don't have nearly enough information to form an opinion I'm afraid.

You need to take into account the measurement of visual acuity (what she can see without the glasses), the amount of short-sightedness and certain measures of binocular vision.

Having said that, at age 4 there aren't a lot of long distance detail tasks going on. No driving for example.

So glasses wear need not be mandatory as long as the vision is good.

However, it may be that your daughter puts on her glasses, loves them and never wants to take them off.

And you won't know that until you have them made up.

I'm not sure I can be anymore help than that.
Sorry.