Study: Kids think eyeglasses make other kids ...( COLUMBUS Ohio Young children tend t...),Health

COLUMBUS, Ohio Young children tend to think that other kids with glasses look smarter than kids who dont wear glasses, according to a new study.

Children between the ages of 6 and 10 who were surveyed for the study also thought that kids wearing glasses looked more honest than children who dont wear glasses.

Otherwise, the survey suggested that children dont tend to judge the attractiveness of their peers who wear glasses when asked about their appearance, potential as a playmate or likely athletic abilities.

The findings might give children some comfort when they are fitted with their first pair of eyeglasses, said lead study author Jeffrey Walline, assistant professor of optometry at Ohio State University.

If the impression of looking smarter will appeal to a child, I would use that information and tell the child it is based on research, Walline said. Most kids getting glasses for the first time are sensitive about how theyre going to look. Some kids simply refuse to wear glasses because they think theyll look ugly.

The study is published in the May issue of the journal Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics.

Walline surveyed children in this age range because they are more likely to be prescribed eyeglasses than contact lenses. Generally, children with nearsightedness are diagnosed with myopia and receive their first corrective lenses at around age 8. Teen-agers were not surveyed because they are routinely fitted with contact lenses if they want them.

For the study, Walline and colleagues assembled a series of 24 pairs of pictures of children for comparison. The children in each pair differed by gender and ethnicity, and each pair included one child with glasses and one child without glasses.

Eighty young children 42 girls and 38 boys were surveyed. Of those, 30 kids (38 percent) wore glasses, 34 had at least one sibling with glasses and almost two-thirds had at least one parent who w
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