Vision Anomalies of School Children

Vision anomalies among 52,000 school children are determined for each age group by the summation of referral rate and the number wearing spectacles who were not referred. Anomalies are classified for each grade into the three largest primary groups: (a) myopia, (b) defective visual acuity, and (c) all other. The onset of most vision anomalies occurs before age six. The exceptions are myopia and defective visual acuity, which appear later in progressively significant numbers, and increases rapidly in amplitude until the high school years. Myopia and defective visual acuity can easily be detected by the school nurse, whereas most other anomalies are difficult to detect by anyone other than a vision professional.