‘No safe level of sun exposure’: how to protect your kids from the summer sun

The weather is finally warming up, and the idea that summer is approaching is – at last – becoming believable. You know what that means: lots of sun-filled days at the park, the beach and in the backyard with the kids. But it can also mean burnt shoulders, faces and backs and eventually skin cancer unless precautions are taken.

“There are things everyone needs to know about sun safety,” said Dr. Maribeth Chitkara, assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “Number one is, there is no safe level of sun exposure.”

Not even, she said, if parents send their kids outside to soak up some vitamin D from the sun.

“The recent claims that it is important to spend short periods of time in the sun unprotected in order to get vitamin D is medically unfounded,” Chitkara said. “We cannot separate out the benefits of sun exposure from the damage it can cause.”

Instead, she recommends getting vitamin D from foods and supplements.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. In 2010 — the most recent year statistics are available — 61,061 people in the US were diagnosed with melanomas in the skin. In that same year, 9,154 people died from skin cancer, among them, 6,002 men and 3,152 women.

The good news is that skin cancer is preventable, according to Chitkara, who said Stony Brook Hospital is working on several projects to educate parents and children about preventative measures, including providing free skin cancer screenings and a curriculum-based program for kids in grades K-6.

To start protecting your children, Chitkara urges parents to not only slather their children in sunscreen that has an SPF of 30 or higher, but to also use a sunscreen that protects against UVA and UVB rays.

Chitkara also highly recommends paying close attention to the ingredients in sunscreen. Ingredients like zinc and titanium dioxide provide excellent protection, but parents should be wary about using a sunscreen that includes the organic compound oxybenzone, she said.

“Recent studies suggest the compound may have some harmful long-term effects,” she said. “We don’t know definitively, but check the ingredient list on the back of your sunscreen bottle and use an alternative, if possible.”

Once they’ve selected a sunscreen, Chitkara said parents should apply it to their children liberally — at a minimum, she said, apply one ounce of sunscreen every several hours.

“Think of it like painting a wall,” she said. “You need a base coat to start, then another coat for full and even coverage, then spot touch ups to finish off.”

Aside from wearing sunscreen, even on cloudy summer days, Chitkara said parents should have their children wear swim shirts to protect their upper arms, shoulders and back.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which states that children can burn in the sun in as little as 15 minutes, further urges parents to have their children wear hats to protect their ears and neck; sunglasses to shield their eyes from UV rays; and when at the beach or park for long periods of time have shade available, including umbrellas and pop-up tents.