When we are aware of the potential damage to children’s skin, how much thought have you given to the importance of sun damage to children’s eyes and the effects of hazardous rays?We all know that protecting our skin with sunscreen is important to eliminate the hazards of sun exposure.
photo: ruralchapel.org
Children’s eyes are far more sensitive to harmful radiation than adult’s eyes. This is because the fact that children typically have larger pupils which allows for more light to pass through.
The components of a child’s eyes, such as the lens and cornea, are also much clearer than an adult’s eyes which allows for a lot more light to penetrate through. Furthermore, children tend to spend a great deal of time playing outside, particularly during periods of peak UV exposure and too often, they are without a hat or sunglasses during this time.
It is because of these reasons that children have accumulated the majority of their radiation exposure by the time they are grown-ups. So there’s really only so much exposure left before a safe threshold is passed and physical tissue damage begins. Eventually, the accumulative damage will lead to eye diseases like eye cancers, cataracts, Pterygia and macular degeneration later on in life.
It’s for this reason that sun protection needs to start as early on in life as possible. And sunglasses need to be the right quality. Children’s sunglasses should have lenses that block a complete 100 percent of UVA and UVB rays and the material should be made to allow optical quality viewing while being impact resistant and safe.
photo: blog.realkidshades.com
As for the frames, they should wrap around and fit snuggly and comfortably.
Always remember to encourage your children to put their sunglasses on – no matter what time of year it is. Remember that during the winter time UV exposure damage is still very possible.
Treat sunglasses as an absolute necessity and not just a funky accessory for both your children and yourself. If your offspring see you wearing sunglasses, chance are they’ll wear theirs too.
