Don't Underestimate the Power of Color

 (Photo : BethLo/Flickr)

Caucasian boys are most likely to suffer colorblindness among preschoolers, according to researchers.

A new study of 4,005 California preschool children age 3 to 6 in Los Angeles and Riverside counties revealed that Caucasian male children have the highest prevalence among four major ethnicities. In contrast, African-Americans have the lowest rate of colorblindness in preschool boys.

Researchers noted that the study confirmed previous findings that girls have a significantly lower occurrence of colorblindness than boys.

The findings confirmed previous studies and showed the rate of colorblindness in girls is somewhere between 0 percent and 0.5 percent for all ethnicities.Researchers said the findings suggest that 5.6 percent of Caucasian boys, 3.1 percent of Asian boys, 2.6 percent of Hispanic boys and 1.4 percent of African-American boys are colorblind.

Researchers said the latest findings highlight the importance of early diagnosis of color deficiency as the colorblindness can negatively affect academic grades.

"It's not that the child is not smart enough or bright enough, it's that they see the world a little differently," lead researcher Rohit Varma, M.D., chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine and director of the USC Eye Institute, said in a news release.

Researchers said that educators need to be aware of colorblindness and should provide adaptive learning tools and strategies for children with the condition. Varma said that teaching different lessons or assigning special homework could help children with colorblindness understand concepts for easily.

"That needs to start early on because labeling a child as not smart or bright enough is a huge stigma for the child and causes significant anxiety for the parents and family," he added.