Eye safety tips for youth sports
Posted on Thu, Dec 01, 2011 @ 10:41 AM
Children under 15 account for nearly half of sports and recreational eye injuries.
Of the 2.5 million eye injuries that occur every year, children under 15 years of age account for nearly one-third of all hospital admissions for eye trauma and 43 percent of sports and recreational eye injuries overall. Parents, coaches and all adults can help protect children’s eyes by following these important safety tips:
• Choose protective eyewear that looks the part. Today there are often more fashionable choices in safety eyewear. Good looks may help children willingly wear their eyewear.
• Comfort is important. Eyewear that pinches the nose or straps that slip are handy excuses to put aside eyewear. Take the time to find something that really works.
• Make sure fogged eyewear isn’t a problem. Kids will want to take off their eyewear when athletic activity works up a sweat that causes fogging. Temperature can also play a role: the cold of a hockey rink or the July heat of a baseball diamond can cause fogging. An antifog treatment like Defog It can eliminate the problem.
• Do you need a strap? It will secure the eyewear during play and help keep them close by during downtime.
• Take the message to coaches, trainers, parents and boosters. It could be time to join the many schools and organizations that have an official recreational eye safety equipment program. Invite health providers or safety experts to explain the hazards and need.
• Include eye safety information at sign-ups for sports teams and day camps.
• Create a poster to distribute in gyms and sports facilities.
For further information, check:
Healthy Vision 2010, an outreach of the Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health
www.healthyvision2010.org
The Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries
www.sportseyeinjuries.com
The American Optometric Association
www.aoa.org/x9499.xml
The American Academy of Pediatrics
pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/2/311
Prevent Blindness American
www.preventblindness.org