DALLAS—The Vision Impact Institute, a nonprofit supported by Essilor’s Vision for Life Fund, and The Cooper Institute have announced a one-year collaboration to raise awareness about the importance of good vision for children and physical fitness to improve health for the “whole child.” The initiative is funded by a generous grant from The Rosewood Foundation. Working together, The Cooper Institute will share the Vision Impact Institute’s eyesight-related information through digital communications and other customer-facing channels to create awareness about the problem of poor vision in children. In the U.S. alone, more than 174,000 preschoolers struggle to see due to untreated vision problems. This number is expected to increase 26 percent by 2060.

The collaboration brings together two organizations devoted to putting research into action to improve the health and wellness of children. Through research and advocacy, The Vision Impact Institute raises awareness about the priority of good vision. Similarly, The Cooper Institute translates research into practical solutions for improved physical fitness and healthy living. One such tool is FitnessGram, the first “student fitness report card” and the largest health-related youth fitness assessment in the world.

“We see this partnership as a natural connection between the two organizations and are grateful to The Rosewood Foundation for the opportunity to add this new component to our work,” said Amy Johnson, chief development officer of The Cooper Institute. “Our research proves that physically fit kids perform better in school. And the Vision Impact Institute research provides evidence of the same success for children who can see well in the classroom.”

Kristan Gross, global executive director of the Vision Impact Institute, agreed. “Experts agree that 80 percent of all learning occurs visually. Today, eyeglasses could correct the poor vision of 239 million children around the world,” she said. “It makes sense to give our kids all the tools they need to be successful, and vision and fitness are two of those tools that can give children a solid foundation from the outset. With many kids going back to school, now is the perfect time to create this focus, and we are excited to see how this partnership can make a difference.”

The Vision Impact Institute, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has a mission to raise awareness of the importance of vision correction and protection to make good vision a global priority. Its advisory board is comprised of five independent international experts: Professor Kevin Frick (U.S.), Professor Clare Gilbert (United Kingdom), Professor Kovin Naidoo (South Africa),. Arun Bharat Ram (India), and Dr. Wang Wei (China).