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Here Comes the Sun How to have fun and keep your kids sun-safe, the easy way Susan Frasca South Florida Parenting
When Melissa Papock diapers and dresses her 18-month-old daughter, she applies the same baby-care products that most parents likely do. Wipes, powders, lotions and ointments are all within easy reach on daughter Devon's changing table, along with a bottle of sunscreen of course. Sunscreen? If it's not a staple in your household, it should be. Not just the bottle that sits ready in your beach bag for that next glorious afternoon of sand and surf. You surely have that part down already. There are plenty of other glorious sunny days here in South Florida, and your child needs just as much protection from the sun while he's playing in the back yard as he does while on the beach.  If you're not convinced, consider these statistics from the American Cancer Society: * Skin cancer is the most common of all cancer types. * There are more than 1 million skin cancers (melanoma and non-melanoma) diagnosed each year in the United States. That's more than prostate, breast, lung, colon, uterus, ovarian and pancreatic cancer combined. * The number of skin cancers has been on the rise steadily for the past 30 years. According to Dr. Elizabeth Alvarez Connelly, assistant professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the University of Miami, one in five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer in their lifetime. "These numbers are directly attributed to sun exposure," she says. Papock, who did not have excessive exposure to the sun as a child, was shocked when, at age 26, she was diagnosed with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. A fair-skinned, blue-eyed, strawberry blonde, as a child she had been slathered with protective lotions and kept in the shade as much as possible by her mom. "The other kids were always a lot tanner than me, but as a teenager, I rebelled and did have a couple of sunburns," Papock recalls. No one is trying to give the sun a bad rap, but too much of a good thing is never good -- and the results of too much sun can be painful in the immediate present and dangerous in the distant future. "It's hardly practical to tell parents not to let their children be out in the sun, especially here in South Florida," Dr. Connelly says. "However they do need to know what sun protection really means and abide by it." In Australia, where sun protection is ingrained and expected of the population, every outdoor playground has a shade structure, and school children are required to wear sunscreen and hats while outside. That same community approach is not present here, Connelly says, which is why several independent organizations have launched their own crusade to help spread the message of skin cancer prevention. The Women's Dermatological Society, of which she is a member, has a national family education campaign called "Families Play Safe in the Sun," providing free skin assessments and sun-protective products and information to families. "As a whole, parents do a terrific job shielding their infants from the sun," Connelly says. Since sunscreen is not recommended for infants younger than 6 months, parents tend to rely on other protective measures -- stroller shades, canopies, clothing, hats and umbrellas, for example. "As babies grow and become more mobile however, some of these devices are more difficult to use, and sunscreen becomes the primary means of protection," she says. It should by no means be the only means. Implementing sun safety measures from infancy will make it easier for parents to protect children as they grow. "The key is for parents to begin sun-protective measures early and make them a habit, just like brushing teeth," Connelly says. Apply sunscreen before they go outside for any extended period of time, get them used to wearing sunglasses and make wearing a hat while outdoors a rule. Pembroke Pines resident Marlo Robinson makes sun protection fun. "My kids have become very fond of big, silly hats," she says. Clothing is an easy and obvious safeguard against overexposure to the sun, but the sun's harmful UV rays can penetrate through fabrics that are a light weave, light color or wet. That T-shirt you slip on your kids while at the beach has a sun protection factor of about 5, and even less when wet. You may not see a sunburn, but the harmful rays that cause aging and skin cancer don't necessarily burn the outer layer of skin. At the very least, apply another layer of sunscreen before donning the shirt. Papock, a fashion merchandising expert at the time of her diagnosis five years ago, decided to combine her medical scare and career experience to educate people on the importance of sun safety. After her dermatologist recommended that she wear sun-protective clothing as a rule, her plan was to design a line of clothing for women. "It was so hard to change the mind-set of people my age," she says. She realized that parents, who will do anything to protect their children, were really the people to start with. Sun-protective clothing and other related products are much easier to come by today -- and much more comfortable and fashionable. Claire Parsons of Lake Worth dresses her 5-year-old son in long-sleeve swim shirts to keep him protected and periodically purchases hats and sunglasses as an incentive for him to wear them. "He's a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy, and I'm proud to say he's not very tan!" Parsons says. In addition to swimsuits that cover kids from elbow to knee, there are beaded necklaces and bottles of sunscreen that change color when exposed to ultraviolet light, serving as entertainment for kids and reminders for parents that the sun's harmful rays are present. Numerous South Florida stores, including CVS stores, carry sun-protective clothing that is so cute and colorful no one would guess they are sun-protective. There will continue to be those among us who still opt to bask in the sun to obtain that glowing, golden tan. Even if you're one of them, don't let that stand in the way of delivering the message to your child that sun protection is essential to their health. If you were a smoker, you wouldn't want them to ever start, right? Sometimes the "Do as I say, not as I do," mentality is a necessary evil. This would be one of those times. Susan Frasca is a freelance writer and former South Florida Parenting staff member. She lives in Coconut Creek. |
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