Strollerderby : sunscreen

The 411 on Our Obsession With SPF

Jen Chaney — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:02:00 GMT

Summer is here and that means it's time for all of us to slather sunscreen on our kids, force them to wear unattractive hats with ridiculously wide brims and insist that they conduct all outdoor activities in the safe, UV-ray-resistant shade. Assuming, that is, that we let them outside at all. Because really, isn't the safest thing to just keep them indoors until October arrives?

Honestly, sometimes it seems that way. Like any parent, I want to do whatever I can to protect my child from getting sunburned or -- God forbid -- skin cancer further down the line. There is plenty of good information, including the guidelines in this piece from Huffington Post, about how to do just that. Use plenty of sunscreen, dress your kids in appropriate attire, avoid being outside during peak hours, keep applying sunscreen every 3 or 4 hours, more if they've been swimming, and so on and so on. The best we can do is follow those rules as closely as possible, right?

Right. Yet our overly neurotic sides sometimes take over, prompting us to obsess so much about reapplying SPF 50 every 15 minutes that we barely give our kids the time and space to lay the foundations for their sandcastles, much less build them. We get so concerned about whether their skin is frying that even as our daughters shout from the swimming pool, "Look, mommy! I just did a perfect dive!" all we can hear is, "Melanoma, melanoma, melanoma..."

Of course, we still need to make a firm commitment to keeping our kids' skin -- and ours' -- protected. According to a recent survey in Consumer Reports, we Americans still have a ways to go, especially on that latter point. Among other things, the survey found that 25 percent of parents with children under the age of 12 were no more diligent about slathering lotion on themselves than were adults without children. The good news is that we do a relatively good job with our little ones: 78 percent of the respondents said they put sunscreen on their kids if they know they will be in the sun for four hours or more. Yeah, that percent should probably be 100, but still, not bad.

The bottom line: we need to strike a balance between sunscreen vigilance and sunscreen neuroticism, so our kids can enjoy the sunny days without feeling like they're being hunted down by the SPF police. Perhaps one way to bring a sense of humor to the serious matter of skin protection: start using Will Ferrell's line of sunscreen, something he created to raise money for a cancer charity. Just make it clear to your kids that streaking like Ferrell did in "Old School" is absolutely not a good idea on days when the UV index is high ... unless they manage to do it while staying in the shade.

Image: Popcrunch via Momlogic

Dad Charged With Abuse After Failing To Apply Sunscreen

Amy S.F. Lutz — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:31:00 GMT

Yes, sunscreen is important. But I can't believe I'm the only one who occasionally forgets to lube up the kids before we leave the house summer mornings. And I can't believe I'm the only one who thinks that shouldn't be a crime.

Bobby Jones, 27, of Kentucky, was charged with criminal abuse when his two-year-old son allegedly suffered second- and third-degree burns after being out in the sun for an hour and a half without sunscreen.

Third-degree burns? I didn't even know that was possible from sun exposure.

I can't help but suspect there's more to this story, since the burn was reported by "the child's mother . . . after she picked him up." Which suggests to me separated parents, acrimony and possible custody issues.

By the way, it's not that I'm anti-sunscreen. I just think that if parents were charged every time their kids got a sunburn, got dehydrated, ate cotton candy until they threw up, or suffered in any preventable way, most of us would be owed some time in the big house.

Kids Should Always Wear Sunscreen

ChagHolland — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:37:00 GMT

Children will be spending more time outdoors now that summer is here. Because exposure to the sun accounts for over ninety percent of all skin cancers, it is important to make sure your kids are adequately protected before sending them outside.

Children should wear clothing that covers as much of their skin as possible. A wide-brimmed hat, dark-colored long-sleeved shirt, and long pants are recommended. I assume a beekeeper's mask is optional.

You should always apply sunscreen on your child before heading outdoors. The sunscreen should be waterproof, have an SPF rating of at least 15, and should be reapplied every two hours. It's a major pain applying sunscreen on an already slippery toddler, but the risks involved far outweigh the struggle. I tend to overdo it; I apply layer after layer of sunscreen until my children look like that dude in Powder.

Maybe letting them stay inside to play video games all day long isn't such a bad idea.

Is Sunscreen Adequate Protection For Kids? Probably Not

Karen Murphy — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:53:00 GMT

When I was a kid, no one used sunscreen. Once in awhile we'd slather on some Coppertone (or worse yet, baby oil!), but that was at the pool or the beach, and it was strictly for better tanning, not for sun protection. Which makes me a prime candidate for melanoma mutations, since the highest risk for those is associated with high sun exposure up to age 20.

Then along came sunscreen, and we've been slathering on the protection ever since. It'll prevent those nasty UV rays, right?

Maybe not.

For one thing, most of us don't use enough. Adults need a shotglassful (I can remember that amount), while kids need about a tablespoon. That's definitely more than I've been using. Plus, it doesn't even work for about 30 minutes after it's applied, so you need to think ahead. If you're already out in the sun and applying it, it's too late.

What's even more worrying is that sunscreen really doesn't work all that well. For one thing, until recently sunscreen only filtered the UVB rays, the ones that cause sunburn, allowing the cancer-causing UVA rays to run rampant on our skin. There are sunscreens available now that filter UVA rays: look for the ingredient Helioplex. These sunscreens are more expensive but totally worth it. We're talking cancer here! Another ingredient, Mexoryl, is widely available in Europe (of course) but in the U.S. only appears in sunscreen-containing moisturizer. How twisted is that?

But the very BEST protection, especially for the delicate skins of our kids, is shade. Check the daily UV index via your weather provider (what kind of phrase is that? "weather provider"? Wouldn't that be, like, God?) and if it's high, turn on the YouTube for the kiddoes and stay inside and make ice cream or something.