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Children At Risk Of Skin Cancer

Carefree days and sunny skies just naturally go together. But, those hot, sunny skies pose natural dangers that can harm your kids today, and in the future.

By Ernestine Clagge

Carefree days and sunny skies just naturally go together.  But, those hot, sunny skies pose natural dangers that can harm your kids today, and in the future.

Skin cancer is a potentially deadly disease that’s caused by exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.  We must protect our children’s delicate skin from the sun’s damaging UV rays and minimize the chance of skin cancer later on in life.

Children must learn the facts about skin cancer, and the earlier, the better.  Learning about the dangerous effects of the sun at an early age will help kids to protect themselves in the future. Your child’s likelihood of suffering permanent damage or acquiring skin cancer will increase with every episode of unprotected exposure to the sun.

Sun damage can strike at the earliest age.  The first time a child experience sun exposure, he or she is considered to be at risk for melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer. It only takes a single blistering sunburn during childhood to double the risk of melanoma later in life.  Remember to prevent your children’s skin becoming sun burnt, and reduce their unprotected exposure to the sun as much as possible.  In doing so, you will be able to decrease their chances of developing skin cancer in adulthood.

Fair haired or redheaded children and those with freckles and green or blue eyes are most at risk of developing skin cancer.  However, it is possible for those with darker pigment and complexions to become afflicted with this terrible disease, including children of African or Hispanic descent.

If your family has a history of melanoma or other types of skin cancer, you must pay particular attention to the welfare of your children.  More and more teenagers are now being diagnosed with skin cancer than ever before.  It’s a frightful trend that includes diagnoses of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Children and teenagers love to be independent and make their own choices.  That’s why it’s up to you to set a good example early in life, to help them make better choices for themselves.  If you are a positive “sun smart” role model, then your kids will naturally make it part of their routines.

Teach your children to wear hats and sunscreen, and explain to them why it’s important to avoid tanning salons.  Even the artificial sunlight created by tanning beds can put your skin, and your children’s skin, at risk.

The following “safe sun” methods can help protect your children from dangerous sunburn:

* Try to avoid outdoor activities during peak sunlight hours.  Children should restrict outdoor play to before 11 am and after 3 pm.  The sun’s UV rays are strongest during the midday and early afternoon hours, and skin is much more likely to burn.

* The sun is just as dangerous on cool and cloudy days.  Just because you can’t feel the heat from UV rays, doesn’t mean there are no dangerous rays present.  It is possible to get sunburn when the weather is cool.  Even skiers must protect themselves on the coldest winter days.

* In summer, dress your children in lightweight protective clothing, and insist that they wear broad-brimmed hats to protect their face, neck and ears. This will reduce their direct exposure to harmful UV rays by 50%.

* Your children must wear sunscreen or sun block with an SPF of 30 or higher.  Waterproof formulas offer the best degree of prolonged protection, even when children swim or work up a sweat playing outdoors.

* Look for protective clothing made of close woven fabrics.  These types of fabrics block the UV rays and keep the sunlight from seeping through.

* Plan activities in shady areas, and encourage your children to play there.  Of course, UV rays can reflect, so kids must wear hats and sunscreen, even in the shade.

As a parent, you need to take every precaution to protect your children.  Start now, because making wise choices for outdoor protection is a lesson that children can and should learn at an early age.  Teach them today, and they’ll keep their “sun smarts” right into their teenage years and adulthood.

Contributor Ernestine Clagge loves writing for numerous popular web sites, on physical fitness and healthy family themes.

Article republished from Copy & Paste Articles

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