It is vital to safeguard children from UV damage to prevent skin cancer from developing in later life. Parents, carers, schools and pre-school settings all have a duty of care to safeguard babies, toddlers, children and teens by ensuring they are appropriately protected and adopt sun safe habits from a young age that will last a lifetime.
Kids love to play outdoors in the sun and whilst some sun is good for us, over-exposure to UV radiation emitted by the sun’s energy poses a serious health risk. A child’s delicate skin is more sensitive to sunlight than adult skin and is therefore more susceptible to sun damage. The vast majority of a person’s lifetime sun exposure is accumulated before the age of 18 – damage from UV radiation builds up over time and repeated exposure without adequate protection can lead to the development of skin cancer in later life.
A child’s delicate skin can burn within 15 minutes of sun exposure without adequate protection. Sunburn in childhood or adolescence is strongly linked to the development of melanoma (the most serious, life-threatening form of skin cancer). Unprotected exposure is even more dangerous for children who have fair skin and hair, have moles and/or freckles, or a family history of skin cancer. For more information go to: Skin Cancer Risk Factors
However, it’s not just sunburn that increases the risk of skin cancer. Even if a child’s skin tends to tan rather than burn – the simple fact that their skin has changed colour is a visual warning sign that shows the skin is working hard to defend itself from the sun’s harmful rays. For more information go to: Understanding UV Radiation.
Due to the fact that levels of UV radiation cannot be seen or felt and can vary dramatically throughout the day and across locations, checking the UV index daily is essential in helping to prepare for the level of sun protection required.
When the UV index reaches 3, steps should be taken to reduce the risk of sun damage. To learn more about the UV index and check the forecast in your location go to: The UV Index Forecast or learn more about our UV Index tool at: The Skcin Mobile App
Whilst skin cancer poses a threat to everyone during their lifetime, the good news is that a whopping 90% of cases are entirely preventable by adopting simple sun safe practices! When the UV Index reaches 3, Skin’s five S rules of sun safety, should be used consistently and in combination to ensure children are adequately protected:
Clothing is one of the most effective barriers between our skin and the sun and should always be considered the first line of defence against UV radiation. You should aim to cover children’s skin as much skin as possible, but always ensure shoulders are covered with a T-shirt as they can easily burn!
Fabrics with a close weave (that don’t let light through) will provide good protection, but UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) 50 rated fabrics will provide maximum protection and are designed to keep children cool and comfortable.
UV protective clothing is ideal for kids, especially when outdoors for extended periods, particularly if abroad on the beach or in/around the swimming pool. UV protective clothing and swimwear for children is readily available online and is definitely worth investing in as it is the simplest, most efficient and cost effective form of sun protection.
To provide maximum protection against the harmful effects of UVA and UVB, Skcin recommend children over the age of 6 months use a sunscreen with an SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of 50, with 5 star UVA protection – specifically formulated for children’s skin.
A generous amount of sunscreen should be applied evenly to clean, dry, exposed skin 20 minutes before heading outdoors, making sure not to forget commonly missed areas such as tops of the feet, back of the neck and behind the ears! Ideally, once outdoors another coat should be applied to ensure adequate and even coverage.
No matter what the label states, sunscreen should be reapplied at least every two hours – more frequently if children are hot and sweaty – and always immediately after swimming and toweling.
Be warned there are various factors that affect the efficacy of sunscreen which can put your child’s skin at risk of sunburn – for further information to ensure you get the maximum out of your sunscreen protection, go to: Sunscreen Top Tips
All children should wear a sun hat to help protect the scalp and provide shade to the face, neck, ears, cheeks and eyes. Bucket style or legionnaire hats with the flap to protect the neck provide good solutions. Baseball caps, whilst better than no hat at all, are not recommended as they do not provide shade to the neck, ears and cheeks.
A closely woven fabric (that doesn’t let light through) will provide good protection, but a UPF 50 fabric will provide optimum protection and are a good investment for kids spending extended time outdoors.
Children’s eyes are up to ten times more sensitive to UV damage than their skin! Failing to protect children’s eyes from UV can put their vision and eye health at risk in later life. It is therefore advisable that children to get into the habit of wearing quality sunglasses as a form of sun protection from an early age.
Sunglasses marked with a UV 400 rating will provide the best protection – filtering up to 99% of both UVA & UVB radiation. If your child already has sunglasses but you are unsure what protection they provide – most opticians can run a simple test to determine this for you.
Whilst shade should never be relied upon as a single preventative measure, it provides an effective additional barrier between children’s skin and direct sunlight. Seeking shade is therefore a vital part of the Five S approach to sun safety and is particularly important during peak UV hours when the sun’s harmful rays are strongest – between 11am and 3pm in the UK and between 10am and 4pm in hotter climates.
When spending extended periods of time outdoors, children should be shaded as much as possible – however, it is vital to keep babies, in particular those under 6 months, shaded at all times.
Perceived temperature and cloud cover are not reliable indicators of UV levels. However, people mistakenly associate the two weather phenomena with a reduced risk of sunburn. Temperature is not related to UV and UV can pass through cloud cover. In fact, studies have shown that partially cloudy, or even overcast skies, can increase UV radiation by 25% at the earths surface and DNA damage by up to 40% through a combination of refraction and reflection.
Whilst the vast majority of us are unlikely to know when clouds are increasing the level of UV radiation, what we do know is that people often change their behaviour on cloudy days and spend increased time outdoors without sun protection, which can result in serious sunburn and increased risk of skin cancer.
Be extra vigilant with sun protection when holidaying in warmer climates where the UV index is commonly very high. Children often spend all day outdoors in or around a swimming pool, on the beach or in the sea and these highly reflective ground surfaces increase the intensity of UV radiation reaching our skin and eyes. Being in the pool or sea doesn’t offer much relief either as UV rays penetrate 200 meters (656 ft) below the water’s surface.
It’s not just warmer climates to be mindful of, be warned if you are hitting the slopes, UV radiation can be just as damaging as on a hot, sunny beach! The combination of higher altitude and snow which is highly reflective, significantly increases the intensity of UV and it’s damaging affects on the skin and eyes.
Children spend almost half their childhood at school, where they are outdoors regularly during peak UV hours (11am – 3pm). It is therefore imperative that children have access to a sun hat and sunscreen for reapplication during the school day. Both pre and primary school settings have a duty of care to ensure children are safeguarded from UV and should have a robust sun protection policy in place that outlines their commitment.
Skcin operate two national accreditation programmes for primary schools and nurseries / pre-school settings to assist them in their duty of care to: implement a robust sun protection policy; communicate with parents to gain support across the wider school community; and educate children to develop their knowledge of sun safety and skin cancer prevention which now forms part of the PHSE curriculum in England. To learn more and get your child’s school or nursery on board see links below.
Embedding sun safe practices from a young age and educating children on the importance of sun safety is critical in preventing skin cancer for our future generations and those to come. Parents and carers are therefore uniquely placed to role model sun safe behaviours and instill healthy habits that will last a lifetime. For a fabulous educational resource, read and loved by hundreds of thousands of children across the UK and beyond – check out our book ‘George the Sun Safe Superstar’ here.
Install the Skcin app on your mobile device to access the UV index tool which provides the current and daily peak UV index and 2 day hourly forecast for any location across the glove with handy UV SMS alerts and sunscreen reminders.
The Skcin app is comprehensive, educational and self-management tool dedicated to the prevention and early detection of skin cancer. The app compromises six key service areas to help you learn more and take charge of your skin health and surveillance.
