Mido Kids: children's eyewear debuts at Fiera Milano
The leading international eyewear exhibition has opened its doors to eyewear for children. Color, fun, as well as prevention, these are the catchwords at Mido Kids, inaugurated this year in response to the needs of a market segment that is attracting increasingly more interest. Or most importantly, that is increasingly more focused on the health of children's eyes. This is why the new area reserved especially for 'junior' eyewear is not only about fashion and trends but will also be an opportunity to present the results of an important survey carried out jointly with Istituto Piepoli on 'pre-school eye examinations', to discover how families feel about prevention and checkups for their children at a very young age.
This quantity survey was carried out through telephone interviews to a representative sample of the Italian population comprising more than 400 families with children aged between 4 and 10 throughout Italy. A truly interesting overview that shows the normal and at times contradictory behavioral patterns of Italian families when it comes to eyesight prevention. A total of 82% of the parents have had their child's eyesight tested at least once, 71% of the families before the age of 6. The remaining 18% have never considered that an eye checkup was necessary for their children, and, in most of these cases (69.4%) because 'there was no reason to'.
Families in north-west Italy are the most careful, 84.8% have taken their children for an eye examination, versus 78.3% in southern Italy and the islands. When parents have their children's eyesight tested, 75.8% go to the optician, 14.3% to the pediatrician and 3.6% to the general practitioner and optician.
It is interesting to note how parents with eyesight disorders tend to be those that most often take their children for a checkup (64.7%), versus those who have no problem with their eyesight (35.3%). The results for sunwear are discouraging: 66.8% of children aged between 4 and 10 do not use eyewear for UV protection. The few children who wear sunglasses, do so at the beach (24.7%) and during their free time (8,2%).
The not-to-be-missed appointment with this 'junior' eyewear space is at the International Optics, Optometry and Ophthalmology Exhibition 2005 in the passageway between pavilions 15 and 16. A must-see area for anyone on the lookout for new ideas.
