More Statistical Idiocy, Courtesy Of The MSM

Good item from James Taranto:

A Stat for Four Eyes

"One out of every five eyeglass-related injuries occurs in children aged 2 to 17 years, according to a new analysis of the more than 26,000 such injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2002 and 2003," reports the Associated Press.

This is one of those statistics that sound alarming but actually aren't. As of the 2000 census, 74.3% of Americans were 18 or older, which means 25.7% were 17 or younger--a considerably higher percentage than the 20% or so of eyeglass-injury victims in that age range.

"These findings are important because by first understanding the mechanism of injury likely to affect children, we can begin to look at safety measures to prevent the injuries, such as safer eyeglasses designs and use of safety goggles during sports," the AP quotes researcher Sara Sinclair as saying. But shouldn't we be more worried about the disproportionately high number of adults who hurt themselves with their spectacles?