Is it alright for young kids to wear fashion glasses without prescription lenses?
NOV 03, 2021
Question:
Is it bad for my 7-year-old daughter to wear clear, plastic, fashionable eyeglasses for fun without a prescription when she does not need them?
Answer:
Children frequently respond to the attachment they make to their peers and that can include friends with visual needs for eyeglasses which some children interpret as "cool." If this is a strong need, there is no harm in supplying eyeglasses which have no optical correction in the front, and children in any case commonly wear sunglasses without problems. Make sure the lenses are unlikely to fracture and the frames are sufficiently sturdy to withstand the usual trauma that children subject their body and clothes to in the course of ordinary activity and play. Most optical shops will comply with this request although a few might ask for a non-optical (termed plano) prescription from your ophthalmologist who will be happy to provide this.
This question was originally answered on April 23, 2012.