When Do Kids Sunglasses Matter?

When Do Kids Sunglasses Matter?

It’s normal that your kids want to play outside, and they should be able to get plenty of fresh air and sunlight.

Kids who play outside out-perform kids who play indoors. They develop better social skills, have fewer behavior problems and have fewer health problems such as arteriosclerosis, which has been diagnosed in lethargic children as young as the age of five. Being outdoors also improves the immune system and helps to “set” biological clocks.

So kids really should be outdoors all the time, right?

Your children need about 60 minutes of outdoor play time daily, even in the winter, but don’t send them outside without kids’ sunglasses.

Prolonged exposure to the sun at an early age can damage the eyes, and often conditions such as macular degeneration don’t show up until much later in life although they began in childhood.

You can help to protect your child’s vision by providing him or her with the right kind of kids’ sunglasses.

What kind of kids’ sunglasses should you be looking at?

First, get sunglasses that provide adequate coverage of the eye area. In many instances, that may mean shield-style frames. Fortunately these are about the coolest looking sunglasses available, and it’s likely your child will be eager to wear them.

Second, the sunglasses you and your child select should protect from UVA and UVB rays.

Look for frames that are hypoallergenic; acetate is a favorite material among kids because it’s comfortable and lightweight to wear, and the acetate delivers magnificently vivid colors.

Periodically check the lenses for scratches and other infelicities developed from rough play. Just in case, it’s always a good idea to have a back up pair of sunglasses should the primary pair become dinged, damaged or broken.

Finally, make sure that you can she your child’s eyes when she or he is wearing sunglasses. Kids need a little bit of light because it helps them in their development. What they don’t need is the harmful UV rays.

Great brands for kids include Nike, Flexon and Ray Ban Junior. These luxury eyewear designers know how to appeal to kids’ taste.

Getting your little ones to wear kids’ sunglasses

It’s easy to forget your sunglasses when heading outdoors, especially when you’re a little kid. In fact, only half of children today wear sunglasses.

You can get your child to wear sunglasses much of the time if you approach the idea the right way: get your child involved in picking out the right kind of kids’ sunglasses. You might not be caught dead in chartreuse and hot pink frames, but if that’s what your child requested, so be it. Kids are more likely to wear what they like and they personally picked out; that’s not so different from adults, is it?

That outdoor light is good for kids. So are the sunglasses they should be wearing every time they go outside.