Follow these 5 tips to ensure better eye health

Eye health is vital and it’s never too late to start taking steps to protect your sight. Your diet, lifestyle and habits all can take a toll on it. Here’s what to keep in mind.

EAT EYEHEALTHY FOODS

A nutritious diet has benefits for all types of health conditions, but some foods are particularly beneficial for eyes. Fatty fish such as tuna, herring or sardines are rich in omega-3 which nourish the cell membranes of nerve cells, including the retina, and help prevent the onset of eye diseases linked to ageing. Including fruits and veggies in your diet, especially clementines, oranges and mandarins, blueberries, carrots, and spinach and broccoli, can also boost eye health thanks to being rich in antioxidants and vitamins A and C, which help protect the cornea and lens of the eye, prevent cataracts, and prevent eye fatigue.

HEAD OUTSIDE

Spending more time in natural light is one of his top five everyday tips for keeping your eyes healthy. Heading outdoors will give eyes a chance to focus on things further away and have a rest from close-up work, and it also exposes our eyes to brighter outdoor light which appears to reduce our risks of developing short-sightedness (myopia.) Ideally, children should spend at least two hours a day outside to help prevent the condition from developing and progressing.

DON’T SMOKE

Kicking the habit can have a positive effect on your eye health. Smoking increases the risk of cataracts, macular degeneration and damage to your optic nerve. It also helps maintain a healthy weight

GET REGULAR CHECKUPS

which reduces the risk of diabetes, which can also cause eye problems. Getting to know your own and your family’s eye health history is important so make sure you go for regular checkups, especially if there are hereditary eye conditions.

Marcela Frazier from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, recommends watching out for any eye problems in kids, which can become more noticeable once they start school. She advises looking out for any complaints of headaches, being tired after reading, squinting, holding books close to the eyes, and even poor school and sports performance, which can all be a result of changes in vision. REDUCE SCREEN TIME According to a report by The Vision Council, 93.3% of Americans spend two or more hours every day on digital devices for work or play, which is resulting in “digital eye strain,” a condition which causes “temporary physical discomfort” after two or more hours in front of a digital screen.

To avoid the condition, which can result in redness, irritation, dry eyes, blurred vision, eye fatigue, back and neck pain and headaches, experts recommend taking regular screen breaks, and also adjusting things like text size, posture and computer setup.

FATTY FISH SUCH AS TUNA, HERRING OR SARDINES ARE RICH IN OMEGA3 WHICH NOURISH THE CELL MEMBRANES OF NERVE CELLS, INCLUDING THE RETINA