This is a question I hear often, and the answer is varied. Whether or not your child needs anti-reflective (also known as non-glare) lenses depends on their age and how they use their glasses.
Let me start by explaining what anti-reflective (AR) lenses do. Anti-reflective lenses help one to see better and feel better by eliminating the glare from headlights, taillights, streetlights, computer screens, and overhead lighting which can otherwise cause discomfort, eyestrain, and headaches. Anti-reflective lenses help one to look better, too, by removing the distracting glare from your lenses and allowing people to see your eyes clearly, while also helping to repel smudges, dust, and water. Pretty fantastic, don’t you agree?
I always highly recommend anti-reflective coating to adults. Always. Even if they claim they’re not “sensitive” to glare, I recommend it based on aesthetics alone.
It’s a little different with children. Infants and young children usually don’t need anti-reflective lenses. They don’t drive or use computers (on a regular basis) or sit in offices or classrooms with less than stellar overhead lighting, and the aesthetic component just isn’t as crucial for this age group.
I usually recommend that school-aged children (age 5 and up) order anti-reflective lenses because unlike the younger group, they are in fact sitting in classrooms with less than stellar overhead lighting as well as using computers and iPad’s (and watching TV or going to the movies) more regularly. I also strongly believe that school-aged children truly appreciate eyewear that makes them look and feel as good as possible, and anti-reflective lenses certainly help do that.
Anti-reflective coating can also be applied to sunglasses and will help eliminate the glare from sunlight reflecting into your eyes from the back surface of the tinted lens. Usually, only the back of the sunglass lens is coated with AR because there are no benefits – visual or cosmetic – to coating the front surface of a dark lens.
For specific questions or concerns regarding anti-reflective lenses and coating for children, please leave us a comment or e-mail us directly at info [at] childrenseyeworks [dot] com!
