Sun Safety Facts

September 13, 2011

Summer is just around the corner and the sun is really heating things up. Did you know that most children accumulate between 50% - 80% of their lifetime sun exposure before the age of 18?! As summer begins, time to arm yourself with information so that you can protect yourself and your children while enjoying outside activities.

Everyone needs some sun exposure; it’s our primary source of Vitamin D, which helps us absorb calcium to build stronger, healthier bones. But it doesn’t take much time in the sun for most people to get the Vitamin D they need. Repeated unprotected exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays can cause skin damage, eye damage, immune system suppression and skin cancer.

Prevention is the best protection against harmful sun exposure. Take the following simple steps to protect you and your child from the sun:

                     Source material:

                     http://kidshealth.org

                     http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/children.htm