Summer Fun Safety Tips
Article Overview
Articles within this series
- Overview
- Safety in the Pool
- Playground Safety
Turn on the sprinkler and inflate the kiddy pool. But before you send your youngsters into the sun, be sure to protect their skin.
Experts agree: Approximately eighty percent of skin damage is done by the time you are 18 years old. The culprit is sunshine’s ultraviolet radiation (UVR). UVR is composed of UVA, UVB and UVC rays. The atmosphere filters out UVC rays, but both UVA and UVB rays make it to Earth in significant amounts.
- UVA rays penetrate skin, causing internal changes to the dermis (the middle layer of skin).
- UVB rays are responsible for tanning and, in many cases, burning, which damages the epidermis (outer layer of skin).
Protect your children’s skin from these rays with sunscreen. Sunscreens keep UVR from reaching the skin, either by absorbing the rays or by reflecting them. An estimated 93 percent of parents don’t correctly use sunscreen on their children. Avoid becoming a statistic by heeding these hints:
Look for “Broad Spectrum” varieties. Not all sunscreens are created equal: Many block only UVB rays, so check the ingredients for titanium dioxide or Parsol 1789 (which block some UVA rays) and zinc oxide (which blocks more UVR than any single ingredient). If the label mentions blocking long UVA rays, even better!
Use a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher. SPF gives you a gauge of how long it may take your child to get sunburned. If your youngster normally burns after 10 minutes in the sun without protection, an SPF 15 will afford her 2 1/2 hours before burning. An SPF 15 takes care of approximately 95 percent of UVB exposure, which most health-care professionals agree is sufficient. Many baby sunblocks feature an SPF of 30, 45 or 50.
Apply indoors, apply generously, apply often (every two hours or after swimming). Be sure to cover their faces, ears, shoulders, feet and lips (use a lip balm).
Avoid exposure between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. This is when the sun’s rays are most damaging. If that’s improbable, dress children in hats, knit shirts and sunglasses in addition to sunscreen.
Check your child’s shadow. If it’s longer than they are, then it is safe to be outdoors. But if it’s shorter or nonexistent, you might want to keep them inside awhile.