Let's play in the sunshine!!!

[Mamaduke]

Found this today in the Herald Sun.
I was wondering when the effects of 'slip slop slap' to such an over zealous extent would end up harming our children.
I don't believe in 'letting them fry' in the sun, but humans (like every other living thing) need some sort of sunlight to grow, and for it to be 2006 and children presenting at hospital with ricketts proves the point that maybe we go a little overboard in protecting our children from the sun.
Hats off to Winter sun... (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18929149%255E2862,00.html)

[jaimie]

i know its off the topic but they have also found a lot of kids have low iodine levls because we are avoiding salt these days...

[Mamaduke]

I've read that somewhere too jazzysmum...well I know my boys are safe on both counts!!!
Jesse (4) loves his salt...anchovies are one of his favourite foods!
Everything in moderation...says she who is trying to lose weight because of her life of excess!!:o

[mysonroger]

yeah, my mum always reckons we need salt because we are a hot sweaty country . i don't know, i haven't investigated, but i do put some in my cooking. i love adding it to water to boil pasta. makes a big difference for me.

i let my DS run around in the sun for about half and hour today without a shirt on and i was wondering if that was ok. now i know it is.

[mysonroger]

I guess "slip,slop,slap" is another personal choice, weighing up the risk of skin cancer versus rickets.

ok so maybe i wont do it anymore...........??????? hmmmm.......

[Rosa]

Would you not get the benefits of Vit D with sunscreen and hat on?

[Rosa]

I've no personal experience with Ricketts but I have watched my Mum undergo Radiation Therapy and have lymph nodes removed and a good chunk of her back from being diagnosed with Melanoma. I would wish this pain and fear on no-one. My children's protection from the sun is of upmost importance to me. We are in sunny QLD too skin cancer capital of the world. Vit D can be obtained in food too can't it?

[Mamaduke]

Children not exposed to at least 25 minutes of noonday sunshine, or up to 52 minutes a day before 10am and after 2pm, during July and August were at risk of developing crippling osteoporosis and other bone conditions, Prof Ebeling said.
This is talking about Victorian children and during the months when the UV levels are low....hardly think that 25 minutes in Winter 'sunshine' could cause skin cancer...it would be hard enough finding 25 minutes of sunshine in Melbourne during the Winter months!!!
I think I'll go with the Professor's advice though!

[WeThree]

I dont think a little sun hurt anyone, and often let my kids play outside without hats and stuff at the end of/beginning of the day, or if the sun is not to fierce, like carly said, everything in moderation. We also buy iodised salt, and use it in small amounts in our food and the kids.

[Mamaduke]

Yep, in moderation.
But anyone who's experienced a Qld summer knows that the times quoted by the prof are way of course to be without protection. 10 mins is all it takes up there to cause skin damage.

Sunlight will still penetrate hats/clothing/sunscreen but the nasty rays are filtered out. Better, in Qld , to be safe then sorry.


That's why the Professor was talking about Victorian children...and by Victorian children he would mean the ones who live in Victoria and not in Queensland!

[Ana Gram]

Now here I was thinking that in winter with it generally being more cloudy that it can be a higher risk as the nasty UV's still come through and people are less vigilant about skin care.

[faery]

i like to have eaarly morning sun and late afternoon sun, but stay out of it completely from 11-3!!! or cover up. I'm not that into slathering myself or my bub with sunscreens every single day....even with organic sunscreens. would rather just hang out in the shade or wear a long shirt.

[Mrs Little]

[QUOTE=aijent]Iodine is rqd for normal thryoid hormone production. If a deficiency occurs in early childhood the result is cretinism(dwarfism with childlike proportions of limbs) and mentally retarded. Hair is scanty and skin dry. Rare here but not in inland third world countries.
QUOTE]

Just like to ask how can a child develop dwarfism. Dwarfism is called acondroplasia ( sp?) and is something that chn. are born with. Did you mean that chn. may get short limbs like a dwarf? not become a dwarf?

Mrs Little & Son.

[nkenward]

Yep I read the article and it was also on the news in Melbourne. The study was related to children in the colder parts of Australia - from Canberra to Tassie. They were saying that in Winter, it would pay to have children take their hats off at playtime. So they could get Vit D from the sun - which is needed to help absorb calcium.

I think to allow your child to feel that warm winter sun is fabulous. But moderation is the key of course, and of course would not be the most clever thing to do in the warmer states, ie: Qld.

But to allow your child to have a tea party on a picnic rug in the backyard - without worrying about 'slip, slop, slap' for 1/2 hour - it needs to be experienced.

[Baby Girl]

With the amount of skin we have exposed to the sun I hardly think a hat is going to drastically affect the amount of Vit D we absorb from the sun.

I will still be putting hats on my girls and suncreen when they are out in the sun for longer periods of time. Does that make me a bad mother???:laughing: :laughing:

[cjb/jbvd]

both my brother and i grew up in perth......really long hot hot hot summers...... mum overcame this by taking us down the beach really early in the mornings and not letting us play outside without full slip slop slap between 12 and 4pm every day. neither of us have any suspicious lumps or moles or anything. we ended up more active and healthy than other kids who didn't play outside. sun is good for your immune system and general mental wellbeing.

i let my boy play in the sun when it's not too hot or cold (either first thing in the morning or late afternoon). then he gets at least half an hour in just a nappyand a hat. i make sure to use a good sunscreen. he loves the outdoors and there is more harm in not getting enough fresh air and sunshine than getting out and about with proper protective measures. i don't want my son to grow up as a couch potato.

but go with what feels right and comfortable for you. you are his loving mum, and will do what you think is best.

[mysonroger]

I can provide factual info and stats but your kid, your choice


would love to read them.........

[mysonroger]

Yes Rosa you would.

Oh dear...Is this just developing into sarcasm or another parent taking my posting as a personal insult and a third party totally bamboozled.

are you talking about me. i wasn't being sarcastic at all. i was actually thinking.....oh yeah, good point, and thinking you're right.. you see, i don't use emoticons and i guess you run the risk of misunderstanding. i was agreeing with you. just wanted you to know that.

[EskimoMumma]

I only ever use hats if the temputrate is higher then 27 degrees, cuz i somehow think that the UV index is higher because of the temperature, id ont know just me :P

but during winter months here in victoria i dont have them do that. It is healthy for kids to have colour. Id rather a nice kid with a bit of colour ( id ont mean tan brown or whatever just a hint of something more noticable then pastey white)

JMO for my kids :thumbsup:

[mysonroger]

oh my god...tellme about it, i experienced that on bubhub yesterday. you could euphemistically say that some people are just so passionate, but then again you are often just left with knitted eyebrows thinking what the **** was all that about.

[caitsmum]

It would be interesting to read the full study that Prof Ebeling has based his opinions on. It is hard to base an opinion on this without seeing how the study was constructed, the design and how the results were interpreted by the research team to gain their conclusions. Without seeing all of this it is difficult to make an informed judgement on validity of the study in question. Is the newspaper just giving a small part of information in order to gain sensationalism?

[Sarie]

I was listening to someone talking about this the other day and she was saying that to still be sun safe, but at certain times of the day at certain times of the year to go without the suncream and hats for say 10 minutes or so.
Like anything I guess use your common sense.

[Maghan]

This thread was all I needed to hear after my thread about hats, sunscreen and kids. So my children won't have suncancer, but they'll have weak, ill-formed bones. Great! I needed something to worry about too!:p

[Mamaduke]

People seem to go to the extreme with some things and the end result is more complicated problems occurring.
That was my point exactly!

[Ana Gram]

I wonder if there has been a study to see if goths can absorb enough calcium without getting vit d from the suns rays?