Children need special care as they spend so much more time outside than adults, and their skin is so much thinner than adults and can burn quickly as they have less melanin (Skin Pigment) to protect their skin.
Children only have one skin so we need to help them to protect it.
The rise in the incidence of skin cancers over the past decades is strongly related to increasingly popular outdoor activities and recreational exposure. Overexposure to sunlight is widely accepted as the underlying cause for harmful effects on the skin, eye and immune system. Experts believe that four out of five cases of skin cancer could be prevented, as UV damage is mostly avoidable.
Adopting the following simple precautions, adapted from the Sun Wise School Program can make all the difference. Shade, clothing and hats provide the best protection – applying sunscreen becomes necessary on those parts of the body that remain exposed like the face and hands. Sunscreen should never be used to prolong the duration of sun exposure.
Sun protection programmes are urgently needed to raise awareness of the health hazards of UV radiation, and to achieve changes in lifestyle that will arrest the trend towards more and more skin cancers. Beyond the health benefits, effective education programmes can strengthen national economies by reducing the financial burden to health care systems caused by skin cancer and cataract treatments.
Children are in a dynamic state of growth, and are therefore more susceptible to environmental threats than adults. Many vital functions such as the immune system are not fully developed at birth, and unsafe environments may interfere with their normal development.
Here, we have collected a list of all the best research and information sites currently available over the web on all areas we think you will find of huge importance on the subject of sun protection.