How Can You Promote Healthy Vision Month?

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The month of May is Healthy Vision Month, a time to consider how our vision impacts our overall health and understand the importance of eye health.

“When you make healthy lifestyle choices, like eating a balanced diet and staying physically active, you are also protecting your vision. In fact, there are several health conditions, like diabetes or high blood pressure, that can increase your risk of some eye diseases,” according to the National Eye Institute (NEI).

With the help of NEI, let’s prioritize our eyes for Healthy Vision Month.

Get an Eye Exam

A comprehensive dilated eye exam helps check for eye diseases early on.

“Even if your eyes feel healthy, you could have a problem and not know it. That’s because many eye diseases don’t have any symptoms or warning signs,” The NEI states.

Folks are encouraged to get a dilated eye exam every 1 to 2 years if they:

• Are older than age 60
• Are African American and older than 40
• Have a family history of glaucoma

A dilated eye exam includes:

• A visual acuity test
• A visual field test
• An eye muscle function test
• A pupil response test
• A tonometry test
• Dilation

Latinos and other people who have diabetes or high blood pressure should confirm with their doctor how often an eye exam is needed.

Know Your Risks for Eye Health Issues

Keeping your eyes healthy also includes making healthy choices like eating healthy foods, being physically active, and avoiding or quitting smoking.

Eye protection like sunglasses, protective eyewear when necessary, resting your eyes and taking steps to prevent eye infection is also important.

Knowing your family history is also important.

“Talk with your family members to find out if they’ve had any eye problems. Some eye diseases and conditions run in families, like age-related macular degeneration or glaucoma,” according to NEI.

Share and Explore Vision Resources

NEI has many resources to help people prioritize their vision.

An eye health trivia quiz can test your knowledge on healthy vision.

In addition to tips to protect your vision, the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) has outreach materials and fact sheets.

Videos and webinars are also available in English and Spanish to view and share.

Engaging in the media like social media, local news, creating partnerships with organizations, and others can also bring awareness to the importance of healthy vision.

Improve Health in Your Community

Taking care of one’s vision can contribute to overall health.

But what about the state of health in your community?

Find out by downloading a Salud America! Health Report Card for your town!

Enter your county name and get auto-generated local data with interactive maps and comparative gauges on several health indicators. This can help you visualize and explore local issues in education, housing, transportation, food, health, and more.

See how your county stacks up compared to the rest of your state and nation.

Then email the Report Card to local leaders to raise awareness, include the data in a presentation or grant proposal, or share it on social media to drive healthy change in your community!

Get your health report card!