Are you sun aware?

Here’s somethSuning to think about before we get the odd glimpse of sun, if we’re lucky this summer – or if you’re planning to find sun elsewhere.

70s seaside

1970s UK holiday snap

I grew up spending summers running around on holiday with my beach gear on all day without a thought for any long term damage being done to my skin. Admittedly it was near Skegness, not on the Costa del Sol! We didn’t have any idea in the 70s that the sun was potentially so dangerous, even here in the UK.

 

Today we don’t have any excuses for not protecting our children (or ourselves) fFactor 50rom the effects of over exposure to the sun. We’ve had the Australian-inspired ‘Slip, slop, slap’ campaign, (encouraging kids to slip on a t-shirt, slop on a hat and slap on some sun cream) and America’s ‘Block
the sun, not the fun’ message, which said it’s important  to allow children to get their vital daily dose of vitamin D but to do so safely. We have numerous high factor creams and sprays on the shelves,
some as high as factor 50 and swimsuits for babies and older children designed to cover sensitive skin.

Beyond the campaigns are the facts. That’s when it gets scary and why it’s important for the message to get through to all parents and children.

Fact 1 – did you know that a child’s skin can burn in as little as 10 minutes?

Fact 2 – It takes just six episodes of serious sunburn before the age of 18 to double the risk of developing skin cancer as an adult.

Fact 3 – According to the British Skin Foundation, a person will die from skin cancer every four hours in the UK and a new case is diagnosed every four minutes.

Fact 4 – Over 100,000 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year, 10,000 of which will be melanoChild in sunma, the deadliest form of the disease.

 

So whether we’re hoping for a scorcher here in the UK or joining the annual getaway to guaranteed sunshine we should remember to let our children enjoy the sun but be aware of the dangers too.

 

Visit British Skin Foundation for more facts and prevention measures.

Matthew Clark

Superkids Children’s Services Manager

Posted by in Uncategorised. May 19th 2016.