Does Squinting Affect Birthday Party Invites?

Swiss researchers found that children who squint are significantly less likely to be invited to birthday parties after the age of 6. A group of children six and older were shown pictures of children that were identical except for one having a squint and asked which "twin" they would invite to their birthday party; less than 20 percent chose to invite even one squinter.

More facts about squinting:

• Children apparently do not differentiate between squinters and non-squinters before the age of 6; those in the study under the age of 6 selected squinters and non-squinters almost equally.


• About one in 20 children have a squint. There are four kinds of squints, and there's often no discernible cause for children developing a squint.


• Squinting is officially called strabismus, from Latin. Many Romans actually had the word built into their names as strabo if they had eye problems, including Pompey the Great's father, Pompey Strabo.