Expert recommends eyewear for children during sports

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AN EXPERT has recommended that children wear proper protective eyewear when doing sports.

Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital ophthalmology department chief senior consultant Datuk Dr Balaravi Pillai said protective eyewear could prevent up to 90% of injuries.

He was speaking at a one-day seminar and workshop in Ipoh themed “Avoidable Blindness” organised by the Rotary Club of Kinta.

In his talk titled “Eye Injuries in Children: What you need to know and tips for prevention,” Dr Balaravi said children with eye injuries were referred to the hospital every other day.

Token of appreciation: Rotary Club of Kinta president Ng Chee Aun (right) presenting a souvenir to Dr Ch’ng. Looking on is Dr Kulasegaran.

He said sports-related activities were the number one cause of eye injury among children, and the shuttlecock was the most common culprit.

“According to a study, eye injury caused by the shuttlecock is most common among children aged 14 and below,” he said.

He added that other than sports, eye injuries in children are caused by fireworks, satay sticks, toys, fishing hooks and even cradle springs.

“When children eat satay, they tend to pull the meat from the stick, which bounces back and hits on the eye,” Dr Balaravi explained during his talk in Ipoh recently.

He said it was vital for parents and caregivers to make sure that household products that could pose a danger, be kept in secure places.

“Pesticides, fertilisers, detergents, solvents, hammers and drills must be kept properly away,” he added.

State deputy health director Dr Ch’ng May Lee, who opened the event, said in her speech that preschool teachers especially must be on alert to detect visual problems among young children.

“Health Ministry conducts eye examinations at the primary school level but not at preschools.

Eye health: Dr Balaravi delivering his talk on opthalmology.

“Therefore, preschool teachers should take it upon themselves to be on the lookout at all times for any such problem,” she said.

Dr Ch’ng said preschool teachers should inform the parents if they discovered a child who had difficulty reading words on the blackboard or if the child seemed to lack concentration.

“Teachers must play a vital role to check and not just leave it unattended,” she said.

Project chairman Datuk Dr S. Kulasegaran said there was need for the Government to undertake a national survey of the disabled, particularly, the blind.

He said that according to international standards, the determination of blindness was about 1% of the population.

“Malaysia has a population of 28 million people and 1% means that about 300,000 people are suffering from blindness or some form of eye-related problem.

“This is a huge figure, so there is need for national mobilisation, not only from the Rotary Clubs but from the entire public sector,” he said.

Dr Kulasegaran said 340 million people in the world had visual problems, of which 45 million were totally blind.

“About 75% to 80% of the blindness is caused by cataract.

“These are frightening numbers, which show that we should never take our eyesight for granted,” he added.