The eyes had it at the March Female Factor meeting. Dr. Mary Kate Moring, from Family Eye Center, informed women about eye care and how to maintain healthy eyes.

“It’s never too early to preserve your vision,” Moring said. She suggested that a child’s first eye exam should be between their first six months and 12 months of life.

Vision changes throughout the course of a lifetime, so regular checkups are always important in order to detect any eye diseases or issues.

Common eye diseases include cataracts and glaucoma. Both diseases can be treated with simple surgery or can possibly be prevented if found early enough.

“Unfortunately, you can’t eat healthy or exercise away cataracts,” Moring said.

Simple things can prevent eye diseases. Eating leafy greens, quitting smoking, wearing sunglasses and taking breaks from the computer can all contribute to healthy eyes.

“Smoking harms nearly every organ in your body, including your eyes,” Moring said. She said it is important to stop smoking for overall health, not just for the eyes.

Also, wearing sunglasses everyday protects the eyes.

“Everyday you’re exposed to harmful UV rays,” Moring said. UV rays are not only present on bright, sunny days. They are affective every single day, even when the weather is cloudy.

This day and age, everyone is constantly on a computer, but that can damage the eyes, as well. For every 20 minutes of looking at a computer, look away for 20 seconds at something at least 20 feet away, Moring said.

Finally, regular visits to the eye doctor will help detect any forming diseases. Moreover, the doctors can provide solutions to taking care of any problems that may pop up.

Not only did Moring inform the women at Female Factor about how to take care of their eyes, she brought Tammy Sanders and Sandra Kyzar, both from Family Eye Center to show the ladies how to pick frames to fit different face shapes and skin tones.

They used volunteers to model different frames and shapes to demonstrate the differences of face shapes, such as round, square, oval and heart shaped.

Female Factor, sponsored by Troy Regional Medical Center, among other local sponsors, holds a meeting the second Wednesday of each month at noon in The Studio in Downtown Troy.