Healthy Kids: Eye safety, green tea, & oil use

FORT Myers, Fla. – Medical news this week involved eye safety, green tea, and oil use in newborns’ skin. Here to discusses this and more, Dr. Annette St. Pierre-Mackoul joins us in the WINK News studio.

Prioritize eye safety when buying toys for children, experts urge:

• 2014: ER’s saw >250,000 visits for toy-related eye injuries (<12 yrs)
• Eye injuries increased by 511% between 2010-2012!
• Culprits: paintball guns, airsoft guns, BB guns and pellet guns.
• Eye Injuries: corneal abrasions, scratches, hyphema.
• Severe injuries can cause blindness.
• Caution: slingshots, dart guns, drones (projectile or flying toys)

Recommended eye safety points:

• Avoid airsoft guns, BB guns, paintball guns, and dart guns.
• Avoid toys with sharp, protruding or projectile parts – propel into eyes.
• Only buy laser toys that comply with 21 CFR Subchapter J (meets federal requirements)
• Sporting equipment: appropriate protective eyewear with shatterproof lenses.
• Appropriate toys for child’s age and maturity level.
• Provide adult supervision with children

Could too much green tea be harmful to health?

• Exposure to excessive amounts of green tea impaired reproductive health.
• Study done in fruit flies. Fruit flies share 75% of same genes that cause disease in humans.
• Development of their offspring was also affected.
• More study is needed.
• Moderate consumption can be healthful.

Avoid applying olive and sunflower oil to healthy newborns’ skin:

• More harmful than helpful!
• Delays the development of the barrier that prevents water loss and protects against allergy and infection.
• Eczema has increased over the last century (5% – 30%)
• Eczema was improved but skin integrity suffered.
• More studies need to be done.