Protective Eyewear Use as Depicted in Children's Television Programs

Purpose: To characterize the depiction of protective eyewear use in scripted children's television programs. Methods: Viewership ratings data were acquired to generate a list of the most-watched scripted broadcast and cable programs for the 2- to 12-year-old age group. The three highest average viewership programs from broadcast and cable programming that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed by two independent reviewers. Results: Review of 30 episodes revealed a total of 244 exposure-scenes in which an individual was engaged in an activity requiring eye protection. There were 5.5 (mean = 8.1) exposure-scenes per episode, with 26 of 30 (87%) episodes containing at least one exposure-scene. There were 19 depictions of protective eyewear use (8% of total exposure-scenes). Fifteen of the 19 cases of protective eyewear use occurred on broadcast programming. Six eye injuries were depicted in the media content. Conclusion: The depiction of protective eyewear use during eye-risk activities is rare in scripted children's television programs and eye injuries are rarely depicted. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus 2013;50:118-123.]