“Sadly, the prevalence of ocular disease such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy and other sight-related defects is rising,” said Paula Peachey of Peachey Optometry Clinic’s Eyecare Plus.

“Many eye health problems have no immediately obvious signs or symptoms, as vision loss in many circumstances is gradual, so early diagnosis is critical for optimum care.

“Unfortunately, the incidence of people with developmental functional vision deficits is also rising. Healthy eyes and clear sight is a great start, but efficient functional vision is dependent on our developed abilities.

“More than 80 per cent of a child’s learning occurs through the visual system and vision problems affect in excess of 20 per cent of all children. A basic sight test is not enough to diagnose defects and deficits that could affect your child’s learning. However, they are measurable with other testing and most can be successfully treated.

“A child’s ability to voluntarily control and use their visual inspection for spatial orientation, directing action and for feature analysis can have an impact on their overall development, ability to engage with learning and later on, the ability to read and to learn,” Ms Peachey said.