The Vision Council Foundation has launched a new back-to-school campaign aimed at promoting comprehensive eye exams and healthy vision habits for children among eyecare providers, schools, and families, according to a press release.

The “See What Matters – Empowering Education” campaign focuses on childhood myopia, digital eye strain, and dry eye associated with screen use, all of which can affect students. According to The Vision Council Foundation, myopia in particular currently affects approximately 30% of children and adolescents in the United States.

As part of the initiative, the foundation has released free downloadable toolkits that are tailored to different audiences. Resources for eyecare providers include printable materials for use in practices and social media content online. Materials for schools and parents include information about myopia, a family eye exam checklist, and a postcard that school nurses can use to share vision screening results. A separate media toolkit provides background information and research on children’s vision and childhood myopia. This is the second set of resources released through the foundation’s “See What Matters” initiative.

The campaign also highlights findings from The Vision Council’s Focused inSights: Provider Approaches to Myopia Management research, which reported that 91% of eyecare providers recommend myopia screening at least annually. Providers identified excessive screen time, genetics, and insufficient outdoor activity as the leading risk factors for myopia onset.

“Eye exams belong on every family's back-to-school checklist, right alongside shopping for new clothes and school supplies,” said Ashley Mills, CEO of The Vision Council and The Vision Council Foundation, in the press release.

Find the resources here.