UP to 4,000 children across Bradford could be suffering because they do not have the glasses they need, research has shown.

The Born In Bradford project has found that despite almost every child in Bradford getting eye tests in schools, and glasses being free for children, a large number of youngsters with vision issues fail to get the glasses they need.

And Bradford Council estimates that if this figure is true across all age groups, then around 4,000 children in the district could have vision problems but not have appropriate spectacles.

Experts say this could have a major impact on the children’s education.

Dr Alison Bruce, from the Born In Bradford project, told the Telegraph & Argus that research showed that around 97 per cent of children in Bradford received an eye test in school in their Reception year.

About 15 per cent of these are referred for a further test, at which they would be fitted for glasses. However, of those that are referred, 30 per cent fail to attend follow-ups.

And even when children do get follow-up tests, and are provided with glasses, half do not wear then as often as they should.

Born In Bradford is a huge research project that follows 13,500 children born at Bradford Royal Infirmary between March 2007 and December 2010, and their parents. It looks at the health and social issues they face from before they are born, and will follow them into adulthood.

Dr Bruce has already conducted a number of studies with the cohort on vision, and will be publishing another later this spring.

She said her work has looked at the impact of not wearing the correct glasses on children’s eyesight and reading skills.

Dr Bruce said: “One of the issues is that it is really difficult to identify if a young child has a vision problem. A lot of the time parents don’t perceive their child to have a vision problem, so they don’t follow it up.

“Sometimes it might not be a priority for parents, taking them for a follow-up test might require them to take time off work.

“There are different things that can put a parent off from getting their child tested. Sometimes it might be parents don’t want their children standing

out.

“It is very important that children who need glasses wear them from a young age, as it is more likely at that age that they will help correct their vision.

“One thing we did find was that if parents and children had more support from schools then the children were more likely to wear the glasses like they should.”

She suggested letting teachers know which children in their classes should be wearing glasses. Currently that information is not given to teachers for privacy reasons. One suggestion to tackle the issue could be to provide teachers with a spare pair of glasses for pupils with vision problems.

Concerns about the issue were recently raised at a meeting of Bradford Council’s Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee. Discussing the issue of child neglect, Councillor Tess Peart, who works in a secondary school, said she could often see children squinting and struggling to read.

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Jenny Cryer, the council’s assistant director for Performance, Commissioning and Partnerships said: “A Born In Bradford study found there were an estimated 9,570 children of primary school age with an identified vision problem but the data suggests that 2,572 of these children have never received appropriate glasses.

“Across the whole school-age population in the district it can be estimated that there are around 4,000 pupils with vision problems but without the appropriate glasses.”

The National Literacy Trust has held activities in Bradford to encourage children to get the vision care they need, including partnering with Boots to offer free eye tests.

The Trust says poor vision can harm a child’s literacy, educational attainment and well-being, leading to a higher likelihood of unemployment or lower-paid employment in later life.