Iowa KidSight is a joint project of the Lions Clubs of Iowa and the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, dedicated to enhancing the early detection and treatment of vision impairments in young children (target population 6 months of age through kindergarten) in Iowa communities through screening and public education.

Goals of Iowa KidSight:

• Objectively screen vision in infants and young children throughout all of Iowa's 99 counties–for FREE.
• Educate the public about the risk of undetected vision loss.
• Identify ways to sustain vision screening programs of this type.

Screening Statistics

• ​Iowa Children Screened by Year/Month
• Referrals by Amblyopia Risk Factor
• Map of Iowa Towns Where Screenings Have Been Conducted
• List of Iowa Towns Where Screenings Have Been Conducted
• Iowa Lions Clubs Statistics by District

Vision Screening Through the Years: Our Program’s History

Since 2000, Iowa KidSight volunteers have helped over 750,000 children in each of the state’s 99 counties through a partnership between Lions Club of Iowa and the University of Iowa Health Care, Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences. Lions Club volunteers visit local daycares and preschools where they perform the free, voluntary vision screenings using specialized digital cameras. The images are then interpreted by a UI Ophthalmology specialist for issues like farsightedness, nearsightedness, cataracts, muscle imbalances, and astigmatisms.