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Your Kids and the Sun
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When summer is here, we all love to be outdoors after a long, cold winter and the sun's rays feel warm on our skin. But before your kids hit the beach or park or even your own backyard, remember too much sun can cause irreparable damage to their skin. Read on to find out how you can prevent painful sunburns during the summer and how you may also significantly reduce your children's risk of developing skin cancer when they become adults. It’s so easy to protect your family from the sun! Your kids can still have a great summer - while keeping their skin healthy.
A Growing Health Problem
The sun is the main cause of skin cancer. Thanks to our love of a suntan and our outdoor-orientated lifestyles, skin cancer has become a significant and growing health problem in Canada, with more than 50,000 new cases of this disease expected each year. Our kids now face a one-in-seven risk of getting skin cancer during their lifetime. How does the sun harm our skin?
Although the sun emits various types of radiation, it is the ultraviolet rays which most affects our skin. Ultraviolet rays damage the skin's DNA and cell function, and from a child's first sunburn or suntan, the damage just keeps on adding up, resulting in wrinkles, dark and unsightly blotches, leathery skin and possibly a skin cancer years later. Some Skin Cancers Can Be Deadly
Most skin cancers can, if left for a long time, cause disfigurement and pain but are rarely fatal. However, melanoma, a less common but potentially deadly form of skin cancer, will be responsible for more than 500 deaths in Canada this year. A worrying trend is that the incidence of melanoma is increasing at a very high rate and is in fact doubling every 15 years. Childhood Sun Protection a Must
Most of us do not realize just how long children are out in the sun, and the more sun we get, the more likely we are to develop skin cancers. During the long summer holidays, while adults might be at the office or indoors at home, kids are outside for hours on end. Most of our lifetime sun exposure occurs before the age of 18. It is especially important to avoid sunburns during childhood since the development of melanoma has been linked to severe sunburns at a young age. Kids at High Risk
Although no one is immune to skin cancer, some kids face a higher risk than others of getting this disease later on in life. Children with fair skin, who usually burn and never tan when out in the sun, or kids with blonde or red hair, freckles or many moles, are at greater risk. SEVEN SIMPLE STEPS TO SUN PROTECTION
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