When I read the article today from HealthDay News, I was reminded of the biggest regret I ever had.

That was exactly what went through my mind when I was 7 years old. Glasses will make me look smarter! I did EVERYTHING that could possibly cause myopia to stay with me. Indeed, my effort was rewarded. Silly me. I regretted it so so soooooooo much now.

I had my very first pair of glasses at 8 years old. At that young age, my myopia was 300 for each eye. Now, its 950 on the left and 900 on the right. You could say – I’m almost blind.

Below are parts of the article…..

FRIDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) — Children think other youngsters who wear glasses look smarter and are more honest than those who don’t wear glasses, according to a U.S. study of 80 children.

In addition, the researchers found that children tend not to judge peers who wear glasses in terms of appearance, potential as a playmate, or likely athletic abilities……

…..”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. Most kids getting glasses for the first time are sensitive about how they’re going to look. Some kids simply refuse to wear glasses, because they think they’ll look ugly,” Walline said.

The study included 42 girls and 38 boys, aged 6 to 10. Of those, 30 wore glasses, 34 had at least one sibling with glasses, and almost two-thirds had at least one parent who wore glasses. The study participants were shown 24 pairs of pictures of children. The children in each pair of pictures differed by gender and ethnicity, and each pair of pictures included one child with glasses and one child without glasses.

The children were asked a series of questions about each pair of photos. About two-thirds said children wearing glasses looked smarter than those without glasses, and 57 percent said children wearing glasses looked more honest.

The results suggest the media portrayals that associate glasses with intelligence may be reinforcing a stereotype that even young children accept, Walline said.

The children’s answers to other questions about who they’d rather play with, who looked better at sports, who looked more shy, and who was better looking weren’t consistent enough for the researchers to derive any solid conclusions…..

….”The concern about attractiveness with glasses seems to be more internal to a particular child rather than an indicator of how they’ll feel about other people who wear glasses,” Walline said.

The study was published in the May issue of Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. For full article, click here.