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Sun exposure and your children
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Keep'em covered
We all know during the hot summer months you need to keep the kids covered and in the shade. It’s not easy to do but the facts show that little kids need some type of safe and effective UV barrier to protect their skin now and in the future. The sunburns and over-exposure they experience under the age of twenty have a lasting affect on the health of their skin later in life so by protecting their skin now you are helping their odds against types of skin cancer later in life. But this is all the tip of the sandcastle when it comes to forming a good understanding of how much exposure, if any, is good for you kids and how you should protect them from it.
We all know that skin cancer is on the rise. Over 60,000 individuals will have it this year alone and over 8,000 will die from it. On the flip side of the argument, there is proof that your body metabolizes vitamin D when your skin is exposed to natural sunlight. Vitamin D, of course, helps your body absorb calcium which is super important for growing boys and girls. Also, links have been made between healthy amounts of sun exposure in children and lower incidents of type 1 diabetes.
And the third angle of this discussion is regarding the potentially harmful ingredients in that sunblock you’re basting your kids with throughout the day. Does that sunblock that you got on sale have links to neurotoxicity, cancer or developmental/reproductive toxicity? The short answer is probably. So how is a parent supposed to navigate through all this? Should we just keep little Timmy and Sally inside with a grow lamp on them, probably not, besides I imagine cabin-fever would set in mighty quick.
Experts say you should mind local UV ratings (watch the weather on the news or check the paper) and limit exposure during the peak UV hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This means allowing your kids a few minutes at the beginning of the day and/or the end of the day to get some of that nutritious sunshine would be a good and relatively safe thing.
Regarding the sunblock dilemma, read the ingredients. If it doesn’t say chemical-free it isn’t. Don’t buy the cheap stuff. The folks over at the CosmeticDatabase.Com have a good breakdown of most sunblocks available, what’s in them and what is safest to use for the young ones. One of their highest scoring products that I have found is California Baby (on a scale of 0-10, 0 being the safest, California Baby sunblock products got between an 0-1) but it’s not the cheapest on the shelf and one of the worst I found according to this database is Coppertone (on the same scale- a lot of their baby products scored between 4-7).
I am not saying you should buy one and avoid the other, rather that it is in your best interest to be an informed Consumer and know that not all sunblocks are the same.
When using sunblock remember a few things;
- Put it on at least 30 minutes before exposure to the sun. Personally, I put it on the moment I get up and re-apply throughout the day.
- Put on enough sunblock, people tend to put too little on. Dermatologist suggest using a tablespoon for children and a shot glass full for adults.
- Use more than SPF-15 (which is what is recommended) that will compensate for the thin coat problems
- When they get out of the pool, re-apply
The best protection from the sun is shade and clothing. There is no indication that either shade or long sleeve shirts are linked with endocrine disruptors, carcinogenics, or vitamin deficiencies. So when the kids are playing in the sandbox throw an umbrella between them and the sun and go out of your way to find some sunglasses and/or baseball cap that your tikes really-really like wearing.
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