Children’s Eye Care Week Awareness Walk on Myopia, hosted by L V Prasad Eye Institute

Every year, Children’s Eye Care Awareness Week is observed across the L V Prasad Eye Institute network, to raise awareness among the public about various eye diseases in children. This year Children’s Eye Care Awareness Week was observed from November 10–16, 2025, with the theme, Myopia Awareness.

Drawing competition and fancy-dress competition were organized for patients, school children and children of employees, at the Kallam Anji Reddy campus in Hyderabad. Students of Hillmen and Richmond school, Banjara Hills participated in the competitions.  Children’s Day was celebrated on November 13, 2025 and prizes were distributed to the winners.  

The week-long celebrations concluded on November 16, 2025 with an awareness walk from Kallam Anji Reddy Campus to KBR park and back.  About 600 children and parents participated in the walk. Placards to create awareness about myopia were carried during the walk, urging children to play outside and get sunlight to prevent/slow the onset of Myopia.

The walk helped create awareness on myopia, signs and symptoms, causes, the importance of early detection and treatment and encourage parents to seek timely medical advice. School students from Hill Men High School @ Banjara Hills, NTR Model School @Gandipet, Vignana Jyothi Public School @Madhura Nagar participated in the walk.  

Myopia or near-sightedness is when you see near objects clearly, but far objects (such as the blackboard) appear blurred. Blurry vision, squeezing eyes to see clearly, frequent headaches and constant rubbing or blinking of eyes are some of the signs of myopia. Parents and teachers should look out for these signs among children and consult an ophthalmologist immediately, if they observe any of these among their children or pupils. Early detection results in better management and outcomes.

Myopia is on the rise among children around the world and India, due to changing lifestyles. Too much screen time, not spending enough time outdoors in sunlight, reading too close or in in sufficient light are some of the reasons why children develop myopia. Sometimes, it runs in the family.  

Less screen time, outdoor play in sunlight, reading in ample light holding books at the right angle are some ways that the onset of myopia can be slowed.  

At the awareness walk, Dr Pavan Verkicharla, Myopia Researcher at L V Prasad Eye Institute; Myopia can lead to several long term complications, and as always, prevention is far better than cure. At L V Prasad Eye Institute, we have a dedicated Myopia Clinic for children, ensuring timely guidance and the right treatment. To help protect your child’s vision, we recommend a few simple but effective precautions like, limiting screen time as much as possible. While reading or writing, keep the book at arm’s length, bringing it too close increases the risk of myopia progression. Instead of watching videos on a mobile phone, connect it to a TV for a larger display; smaller or closer screens strain the eyes and trigger myopia. During online classes, always use a bigger screen so the child can sit farther away, keeping the eyeballs relaxed and reducing fatigue on eye. He Urged teachers and parents to watch out for children having difficulty with seeing either the black board or objects at a distance and seek immediate medical advice if found to exhibit any such signs.

Dr Ramesh Kekunnaya, Head – Child Sight Institute at LVPEI; At L V Prasad Eye Institute, our mission is simple yet powerful, to ensure every child enjoys a bright and healthy future. As we do each year, we are celebrating Children’s Eye Care Awareness Week and Walk, and this year our spotlight is on a growing concern, Myopia, commonly known as short-sightedness. Myopia is now one of the most common eye conditions affecting children. Worryingly, its prevalence is rising rapidly. Today, an estimated 7% to 20% of children in India are affected, and this number could escalate to 50% within the next decade. Myopia is no longer just a clinical issue, it has emerged as a major public health challenge. Simply prescribing  glasses suffices no more. One of the key contributors to this rising trend is excessive screen time among children. One of the risk factors is increasing screen time being spent by children. That’s why we emphasise three essential priorities, early detection, healthy visual habits and timely intervention. If anyone of you have any kind of visual discomfort, it’s important we identify it early by screening. But all you school kids must practice some healthy visual habits like, you should have more outdoor activity in the sunlight, less screen time, if you can’t avoid screen time, balance them & spend more time in outdoor activities, cultivate healthy reading habits. If you or your friends have myopia, some timely interventions can really help. Provided much needed solace to parents, saying, “Myopia can be managed effectively, if detected early. Outcomes are directly proportional to the stage at which it is diagnosed.

About L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI)

Established in 1987, with the vision,” to create excellent and equitable eye care systems that reach all those in need,” the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), a comprehensive eye health facility, is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness.  In pursuance of this vision, LVPEI clinicians and scientists work at the cutting edge of eye research. Through its five-tier ‘‘Eye Health Pyramid’ model, it has till date offered over 36.89 million services (3 crores 68 lakh services), with more than 50% entirely free of cost, irrespective of the complexity of care needed. For further information, visit the Institute’s website, www.lvpei.org.