Thursday, January 21, 2010

Play It Safe In The Sun

By Byron Jonas

If you or anyone in your family spends a great deal of time outdoors, one of the most important things you can do for your health is to protect yourself from the sun. Especially if you have kids that are involved in outdoor activities, such as school sports, it is very important to teach them how to be smart about the sun.

A little bit of prevention can go a long way when it comes to protecting ourselves and our kids from the potentially damaging effects of the sun's rays. Although it may not be the first things on our kids' minds as they run out to the playing fields this summer, it is an important duty of every parent to ensure that their children are aware of the risks that come with exposure to the sun as well as what can be done to prevent long-term damaging effects.

Especially when it comes to young ones, it seems that we are all just waiting for those long sunny days to come around; there is nothing like spending a beautiful day outside and enjoying the summer sun. However, parents need to take the time to educate their kids and make sure they know how to be safe in the sun.

Although a good dose of sunshine can be beneficial for our bodies and spirits, over exposure to sunlight can cause many harmful short and long-term effects. The most obvious and nearly instant reaction to too much sun is sunburn, which can range from being cosmetically unpleasant to downright severe. An extremely bad burn can even require hospitalization.

Another typical side effect which many people would be happy to avoid is premature wrinkling and aging of the skin. Although your kids are hardly thinking about preserving their youth, it's never too early to warn them about this long-term effect caused by too much sun.

Another much more serious side effect from too much sun is skin cancer. A beautifully-bronzed body was once a coveted beauty trait, but as we now know the price to pay for this is way too high. Skin cancer is a serious disease that can be easily prevented with simple measures. Especially during the summer and school sports seasons, parents need to make sure their kids are protected from the sun's rays.

In fact, you can never be too safe when it comes to protecting yourself from the sun's powerful rays. You can still suffer from a sunburn even on cloudy or overcast days; sun protection is something to be considered throughout the entire year, not only on sunny summer days.

The majority of experts recommend using an SPF sunscreen before any outdoor activities. You may even want to consider using a daily moisturizer that contains SPF, just to play it safe. Covering up bare skin and wearing brimmed hats can also be good ways to enjoy the outdoors without putting your health at risk.

When your loved ones head out to enjoy the summer sun, make sure the sunscreen gets thoroughly applied first and also re-applied every few hours. With just a bit of common sense, you can enjoy the sun safely, all season long. - 2368

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