Many parents report using their own trips to a dermatologist as teachable moments, describing how getting too much sun has led to damage and explaining that suspicious spots have to be removed. And that the damage shows up as a sunburn or tan if you go out in the sun unprotected.Īs children get older, Wu suggests making the connection between UV damage and skin cancer, explaining that good sun-protection habits are what help prevent the disease. “You can explain that one of the things that harms skin is ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun,” Wu says. Kids are usually focused on the here and now, and as far as they’re concerned, stopping to apply sunscreen (and later reapply it) is just taking time away from outdoor fun.Įven young school-age children can understand some basics about how skin works to protect our bodies and how sunscreen works to protect skin. “When children are young, the focus of the discussion can be on how we use sunscreen to keep skin healthy and safe, just like we use seat belts and helmets to keep our bodies safe.” “You have to explain it in language they can understand,” says Yelena Wu, Ph.D., a pediatric psychologist and an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Some of the frustration-on the part of parent and child-could stem from a lack of understanding about the importance of a daily sunscreen routine. “It helps now that I let them apply it to their arms while I work on the rest.” “With my boys, ages 4 and 5, sunscreen application can involve lots of screaming and crying,” says Erin Rich, a mom in Oakland, Calif. Just getting sunscreen on them every morning can be a challenge. But as any parent-especially one with small children-knows, kids and sunscreen don’t always mix. Just half of parents said they reapplied sunscreen every 2 hours-the recommended interval-on their kids if they weren’t playing by the water, and just 25 percent reapply on cloudy days. ![]() A 2018 analysis of more than 600 Australian adults published in JAMA Dermatology found that those who regularly used sunscreen in childhood had a significantly reduced risk of melanoma later in life.Īnd just one blistering sunburn during childhood can almost double the lifetime risk of melanoma (the most deadly form of skin cancer), according to a 2008 analysis published in the journal Annals of Epidemiology.īut the poll also found that while 91 percent of parents use sunscreen on their kids, they don’t always use it correctly. ![]() Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.Īnd the research certainly backs that up. Nine in 10 parents say using sunscreen is very important for protecting their child against sunburn and skin cancer, according to a national poll on children’s health from the University of Michigan’s C.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |