National Children's Eye Health and Safety Month

8/15/11

The month of August has been designated as, “National Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month”. According to Joe Ebel, Licking County Health Commissioner, “Each year, thousands of children have eye accidents at home, at play, and in the car. Eye injuries can damage a child’s sight and even cause blindness.”

The most common causes of eye injuries to children include: misuse of toys, falls against furniture or on the stairs, misuse of everyday tools and objects such as pens, knives, and forks, contact with harmful household products, and automobile accidents. Parents of small children should use safety gates on stairs to prevent falls. Sharp corners on furniture need to be padded. Locks should be placed on cabinets and drawers that contain harmful substances. Sharp objects should be placed out of reach.

Children who play sports run the risk of eye injuries. Baseball, basketball, and racquet sports pose the greatest threat. Children should wear safety goggles that have polycarbonate lens protectors. Batting helmets with polycarbonate face shields should be used. Helmets and face shields approved by the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association should be worn when playing hockey. Parents need to realize that regular eyeglasses do not provide sufficient protection.

Children’s eyes are also injured by direct exposure to sunlight. Ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun pose a greater risk for damaging children’s eyes because their lenses are more transparent. This allows more dangerous UV rays to reach the eye’s retina. Parents should purchase sunglasses for children which offer 100% UV protection. Sunglasses without that amount of UV protection may shade the eyes, but cause the pupils to dilate, or get bigger, allowing even more harmful rays to get in.

For more information, please visit www.preventblindness.org or visit the American Academy of Pediatrics at www.aap.org .

Contact Mary Beth Hagstad, R.N., M.S.N., C.N.S. mhagstad@lickingcohealth.org (740) 349-6685

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