Protect Your Children's Eyes!

A recent survey of 2,000 adults found that 82 percent of parents ensure that their children wear sunscreen to protect their skin from the sun and its damaging UV rays, but only 32 percent make them wear sunglasses to protect their eyes.
Children have larger pupils than adults and tend to spend more time outdoors; as a result, they can be exposed to as much as three times as much ultraviolet radiation.
Outdoor activity and sunshine are beneficial to children, but it is important to be well informed about the risks to ensure the health and safety of the child.

Buying the Best Sunglasses

• Be sure that any glasses you purchase have a UV-protection sticker, and it is best if they also have the American Optometric Association's Seal of Acceptance. These stickers indicate that the glasses block 99 to 100 percent of harmful UV radiation.
• Buy real sunglasses to provide real protection. Toy sunglasses aren't effective enough.
• Sunglasses should block 75 to 90 percent of light. Lenses should be dark enough that you cannot see your child's eyes through the lens.
• Gray-colored lenses are best as they absorb all colors evenly and allow the wearer to continue to see in natural color.
• The glasses should be large enough or have a wrap-around style that helps to block rays that might enter the eye from the side.