By NICKY CHAMP
Imagine this summertime scenario: you arrive early at the beach for a day of fun in the sun. Your (fictional) three-year-old is wearing a hat, rashie, sunglasses and you’ve also slathered sunscreen on to every exposed part of his body, twice.
You lay out your towel out with the intention of getting some ‘Vitamin D’ before slip, slop, slapping yourself and hope that little Sammy will be content building sandcastles under the umbrella to give you enough time to relax. You fish through your bag and dammit, in the rush to leave the house it looks like you’ve forgotten your hat. So there you are lying in the full sun without sunscreen or a hat while your three-year old has three layers of SPF protection to play in the shade.
Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Ultraceuticals. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.
Why is it that we so steadfastly apply sunscreen to our children while we are more nonchalant about our own skin?
It’s been 32 years since Sid Seagull introduced the Slip Slop Slop campaign and the tanned look is no longer being touted as ‘healthy’ but record numbers of Australians are developing melanoma and dying from skin cancer than ever before.
According to the Cancer Council, Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. More than 1700 Australians die from skin cancer each year and 2 in 3 Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70.
Two in three. That’s more than 65% of the population. Read on for some of the common sunscreen myths, excuses and mistakes people make about sunscreen.
How Matt Moran Really Feels About Fast Food
What I Eat When
Top Comments
While there is certainly no doubt that getting too much sun greatly increases one's risk of skin cancer, it's really not so simple as slopping on sunscreen without a second thought. There is a resurgence of rickets (soft bones in children that can result in bowed legs and other skeletal deformities) in developed nations around the world, largely because of vitamin D deficiency, which has been brought in at least in part by campaigns to avoid the sun because of skin cancer risk. And yet sunshine is the best way to get vitamin D, although supplements are also an option. In higher latitudes, the very time of day we are told to avoid (10AM-3PM) is the only time of day from April through October that UVB makes it down to the surface, so we really need to get some sun during those hours! However, I'm not saying it's an either/or choice, and this is what bothers me about the skin cancer campaigns -- they pretty much want you to avoid the sun altogether, throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. The plain fact of the matter is that getting some amount of sunshine is very beneficial, not just for vitamin D but for many other reasons. Sunscreens, because of the zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, really do damage precious coral reefs, and that's a fact. So it is not a simple issue. We need to dig deeper and have a dialogue about these issues. If you want to join the discussion and learn more about vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, please visit a new and emerging forum called Vitamin D Explained at http://www.dexplained.com and contribute your thoughts and opinions!
Ultraceuticals SAVED my skin. When I came off the pill after 12 years my skin went batshit crazy. I even had cystic acne on my neck :( Not cool at the age of 27 - it was like being a teenager all over again, and I already suffered through Roaccutane twice! I went to see a gorgeous lady here in Melbourne (Sandra at Missie Coco in Prahran) and I now get complimented on my skin every other day. It's clear and glowing, and any breakouts I do get around my period are gone in 3 days. The products and treatments aren't cheap, but being able to go makeup-free is worth it :p I can't speak any more highly of Ultraceuticals!