This summer you won’t be thinking twice about putting a high factor sun cream on your children’s skin to protect them from sunburn, but what about their eyes? Like skin eyes too can become sunburnt when they are exposed to too much ultraviolet (UV) light, and making sure your kids are wearing sunglasses will make a big difference.
The catchphrase “slip-slap-slop” has been used in Australia for many years to help kids protect themselves from the sun. It means slip on the kid's sunglasses, slap on a sun hat and slop on the sun cream. Unsurprisingly the Australians often lead the way in sun protection research and recent evidence has shown that overexposure to UV can have serious long-term effects that can lead to visual impairment. The Australians are now making kids sunglasses a mandatory part of every child’s school uniform.
The next time you slip on your own sunglasses remember that children’s eyes are more sensitive to UV than adults. The eyes lens, which filters the UV is not fully developed in children, the younger the child the less UV their lenses filter. Any damage that occurs to the eye is cumulative so it is a good idea to get them used to wearing kids sunglasses from a young age.
Will a pair of cheap kids sunglasses provide the same protection as a more expensive pair?
You need to ensure that any pair of kid’s sunglasses you buy provides 100% UV protection. All the sunglasses we sell at Little Adventure Shop have this protection and also the quality of the lenses are very high meaning there is minimal image distortion looking through them. The tint of the lenses on kids sunglasses should be Category 3 (dark) or Category 4 (very dark) both of these tints are suitable for use on water, snow and in full sunlight. The quality end of the market such as Zoobug and Julbo kids sunglasses all meet these criteria. If the sunglasses are to be used on water the Polaroid polarised kids sunglasses are a good option.
Sunglasses for kids also need to be fuss-free, and robust. They need to stay in place when children are running around and be able to take a few knocks. We stock a wide variety of good quality kids sunglasses for children. There are plenty to choose from to keep everyone from babies to teens happy, whilst never compromising the protection they provide for your eyes.
