An InfantSEE assessment between 6 and 12 months of age is recommended to determine if an infant is at risk for eye or vision disorders. Since many eye problems arise from conditions that can be identified by an eye doctor in the infant's first year of life, you as a parent can give your infant a precious gift with an InfantSEE assessment in addition to the wellness evaluation of the eyes by your pediatrician or family practice doctor.

One in every 10 children is at risk from undiagnosed eye and vision problems, yet only 13 percent of mothers with children younger than 2 years of age said they had taken their babies to see an eye and vision care professional for a regular check-up or well-care visit.

Moreover, many children at risk for eye and vision problems are not being identified at an early age, when many of those problems might be prevented or more easily corrected.

Some 4.02 million children were born in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In approximately 4 percent, strabismus will develop, and amblyopia will develop in 3 percent'this equates to as many as 100,000 infants born each year who are at risk for serious eye and vision problems.

Early intervention is critical to a successful and cost-effective treatment. Despite the nation's present system of preschool vision screening, there is a need for professional infant eye and vision assessments.

Sadly, during the course of their young lives, most children probably never see an eye care professional who can provide the kind of professional eye assessment necessary to identify critical eye and vision problems at an early stage, and provide the necessary care and treatment.

We have stepped forward to accept our public health role and make a significant contribution in the area of infants' eye and vision health. The American Optometric Association, with The Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. as a working partner, has launched InfantSEE, a first-of-its-kind national program to provide children professional eye and vision care earlier in life. The program will address the early childhood segment of the pre-school population, providing no-cost infant eye and vision assessments before the age of one year.

We all want to to protect our eyesight and that is why it is important to have annual vision tests. This allows us to detect changes in the front of your eye so that alterations can be made to your eyeglass or contact lens prescription. We also need to inspect the retina to check if it is healthy, damaged, or showing signs of disease.