Dec 14 2009
Contact lenses can boost your kids confidence
New research, covering 500 children shows that the best contact lenses dramatically improve how children feel about themselves, with increases in sports performance and acceptance among friends.
The children in this study were asked to wear either glasses or contact lenses for a three year period.
During that time, the researchers checked for changes in the children’s self-perception in areas such as social acceptance, academic competence, athletic ability, physical appearance and general behavior.
By the end of the study, children with contact lenses had improved significantly in all these key areas.
Mitchell J. Prinstein, director of clinical physiology at the University of North Carolina, said “Published studies have shown glasses to be associated with negative attributes in areas of self-perception and attractiveness, so it was not surprising that children’s physical appearance and self-perception benefit from wearing the best contact lenses.
The finding that children wearing contact lenses felt better about their athletic ability “are consistent with the growing body of research in this area demonstrating that contact lenses significantly improve how children feel about participating in activities such as sports,” Walline noted.
“Anecdotally, children may participate in recreational activities without vision correction, rather than risk breaking their glasses. Unlike glasses, the best contact lenses provide clear vision without impairing peripheral vision, so children may feel that their athletic competence improves, because they can see more clearly while participating in recreational activities,” he said.
The study, was originally published in Optometry and Vision Science, and received funding from Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.
