Parents of young children should consider investing in whole life insurance, college savings plans, estate planning services – and sunglasses.
WellPoint Inc., Indianapolis (NYSE:WLP), and Transitions Optical Inc., Pinellas Park, Fla., talk about the importance of protecting children's eyes against the sun in a new report based in part on a survey of about 2,500 U.S. residents ages 18 and older.
Long-term exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays can increase the risk that children will 
develop conditions such as cataracts and macular degeneration later in life, according to Pat Huot of Transitions Optical, a company that that supplies materials to makers of sunglasses.
The United States already spends billions of dollars per year to treat those conditions, and the conditions also can lead to dramatic increases in long term care costs, by causing blindness.
