A GROUND-BREAKING study from Bradford looking at how children's eye problems impact on reading skills could help shape future policy decisions.

The study, which is one of the first to investigate how sight problems in young children affect their reading ability, has been published by the BMJ Open Journal.

It found four per cent of the city's reception children had poor eyesight compared to the next closest research study, in Northern Ireland, which found just 1.3 per cent of similar aged children had reduced vision.

And it also found Bradford children with the poorest vision had a reduction in their literacy scores. even taking into account other factors such as family background, socio-economics and whether English was their first language.

Research to compare children’s eye tests against their literacy levels began in the city in November 2013 and was led by head orthoptist and Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) fellow Alison Bruce. It also drew upon data from the Born in Bradford project tracking the health and development of a cohort of youngsters born in the city.

BIHR director Professor John Wright said: “The great thing about this research is that it will lead to real improvements in managing poor vision in children. Dr Bruce’s investigations have helped our understanding of the causes of poor vision and its impact on education, but more importantly it has the potential to directly shape how health services can be redesigned to improve vision care."