A surprising number of parents don't make their children wear tinted sunglasses

April 21, 2010

While many individuals know that frequent sun exposure is bad for their eyes, a surprising number of people do not take preemptive measures to protect their eyes for themselves or their children.

According to Dr Christine W. Sindt, an associate professor of clinical ophthalmology at the University of Iowa, while 85 percent of Americans know that exposure to UV rays is detrimental to their eye health, only 65 percent wear tinted sunglasses. Additionally, only 39 percent of parents make sure that their children wear sunglasses, as opposed to 78 percent of adults who make their kids wear sunscreen.

Dr Sindt said that should children continue to not wear tinted sunglasses into adulthood, they may find that they have done long-term damage to their vision.

"Short-term damage to the eyes is hard to notice, but over the long-term the sun can cause irreversible harm to all structures of the eye and surrounding tissue that are left unprotected or under-protected," Sindt said.

According to the American Optometric Association, frequent sun exposure may leave individuals at a greater risk for cataracts later in life.