Sports (Check off each correct answer.)

When playing sports like racquetball, you should:

1. Wear eyeglasses.

2. Wear safety goggles approved by the U.S. FDA and ANSI
(American National Safety Institute).

3. Wear impact-resistant glasses.

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Which sport poses the lowest safety risk to your eyes?

1. Gymnastics.

2. Boxing.

3. Little League Baseball.

The answers are:

When playing sports like racquetball, you should:

1. Wear eyeglasses. WRONG.
Eyeglasses are not designed to act as safety goggles that are needed in a sport like racquetball.

2. Wear safety goggles approved by the U.S. FDA and ANSI
(American National Safety Institute). RIGHT.
When playing a sport like racquetball, or any other sport where the ball can have a high impact, the only sure way to keep your eyes safe is to wear approved safety goggles for that sport. Sports accidents are a major cause of eye injury for children.

3. Wear impact resistant glasses. WRONG.
Even eyeglasses that meet the impact resistance standards of the FDA and ANSI do not provide the protection of safety goggles designed to prevent eye injuries in sports.

Which sport poses the lowest safety risk to your eyes?

1. Gymnastics. RIGHT.
Gymnastics, like swimming and running, is a low risk sport.

2. Boxing. WRONG.
Combative sports involve great risk of eye injury. Effective eye protection has not yet been developed for this type of activity.

3. Little League Baseball. WRONG.
Little League Baseball is considered a moderate to high risk sport, along with hockey, soccer, racquet sports, basketball, and football. There is a direct relationship between these activities and serious eye injuries, but adequate eye protective devices are available.

DID YOU KNOW?: Some 32,000 sports and recreational eye injuries were seen in hospital emergency rooms last year. Children were hurt most often in baseball; teens and young adults (age 15-24) were hurt usually playing basketball; and adults 25 and older ran into injury on the tennis or racquetball court.

Find out what the best type of eyewear is for your sport, and then wear it every time you play.

PARENTS: The above information was taken from "Home Eye Safety Guide" and "Don't Play Games With Your Eyes," both publications of PREVENT BLINDNESS AMERICA (TM). For more information about PREVENT BLINDNESS AMERICA (TM) programs follow the link at the bottom of the "Safe Eyes" page.