“Can sunglasses spoil kids eyesight?”
My son is 5 years old and wants to wear sunglasses for fashion and style. However, I am worried that they can spoil his vision over time. Is my fear unreasonable?
8 Answers
Sunglasses will not damage his vision.
Let him wear the sunglasses. They reduce his risk factor of damage from the harmful rays of the sun.
No, that will not spoil his vision. The earlier the sun protection, the better. Especially nowadays when the ozone layer is thinning, the sun is more damaging to our eyes than ever before. When shopping for children or adult glasses alike, choosing one with 100% UV protection is best.
Sunglasses actually protect a child’s eyes by limiting the amount of ultraviolet light that enters their eyes.
As long as his vision is normal this should not be a problem. In fact, this may even be a good habit to have growing up. I grew up the child of an eye doctor and started wearing sunglasses at a young age, too - not 5, but a bit older.
Sun exposure to the eye is associated with macular degeneration - in people who have a hereditary tendency - cataracts, growths on the eye (pterygium and pingueculum) as well as cancers of the superficial layers of the eye and the eyelids.
The only thing I would have checked is that he does not do that because his eyes are sensitive to light, because that can indicate a possible problem.
So, as long as everything - including his vision - checks out as normal and he is just doing it to be fashionable and he is not using them inappropriately (in the classroom for instance) but mostly when outside, then this should not affect the eyes negatively.
Periodic checkups will insure that this is the case. There are studies that suggest that exposure to blue wavelengths of light during childhood - such as what is in natural sunlight - are associated with a decreased incidence of myopia (near-sightedness). So, if there is a family tendency to be myopic, then at least some time outdoors exposing the eyes to natural light would be in order.
Sun exposure to the eye is associated with macular degeneration - in people who have a hereditary tendency - cataracts, growths on the eye (pterygium and pingueculum) as well as cancers of the superficial layers of the eye and the eyelids.
The only thing I would have checked is that he does not do that because his eyes are sensitive to light, because that can indicate a possible problem.
So, as long as everything - including his vision - checks out as normal and he is just doing it to be fashionable and he is not using them inappropriately (in the classroom for instance) but mostly when outside, then this should not affect the eyes negatively.
Periodic checkups will insure that this is the case. There are studies that suggest that exposure to blue wavelengths of light during childhood - such as what is in natural sunlight - are associated with a decreased incidence of myopia (near-sightedness). So, if there is a family tendency to be myopic, then at least some time outdoors exposing the eyes to natural light would be in order.
No
Sunglasses protects the eyes from solar radiation. Hence it is OK to use them
Sunglasses will not spoil your son's vision if they don't have prescription on them...
