Are School Recesses Putting Kids in Danger?

As a parent in Chandler, Arizona, it's hard not to cringe when I walk my child to school at the end of July and realize he will spend 40+ minutes outdoors in a high or extreme UV index heat. With many Arizona schools following a modified year-round school calendar, most kids are heading back to school in July and August while the temperatures and UV ratings are still at extreme levels (average UV index in August in Chandler is a 10).

While some parents are vigilant about applying sunscreen before kids head off to school, most kids are not reminded to wear sun hats, sunglasses or re-apply sunscreen before they head out to the playground. Most new schools are not built with shade as a high priority, leaving many playgrounds out in the direct sunlight.

With a high percentage of sun damage estimated to occur during childhood and the incidences of skin cancer growing drastically, does it make sense to send our children outside during extreme UV heat index? If the weather was extremely cold, many schools would keep the children indoors or find alternatives to outside recess and P.E. Shouldn't we do the same for extreme heat?

Many parents and teachers may argue (and they would also be correct) that recess is a vital part of a child's schoolday. Children need the exercise, free play time and socialization. What are the alternatives?

The Center for Disease Control has released many tips for parents and school administrators regarding sun safety . Some of these tips include:

• sun safety education to teachers and students
• scheduling outdoor activities around the hottest times of the day (is this possible?)
• making sunscreen application and hat and sunglasses a routine part of outdoor preparation
• sending children to school in sun protective clothing and wide-brimmed hats

Since Arizona is 2nd in the world (after Australia) for skin cancer incidences and children are back in school earlier then years ago, I would love to see this issue addressed seriously and immediately.

For more information on helping your child's school become more sun safe, please get vocal with your school district and visit the SunWise website to see how to help enforce Arizona's mandatory sun safety education in schools.

Sun Smart Swimmers Damaging the Ocean

It seems that with so much information available these days, we are more aware of how every action we take impacts our health or the health of the environment. Often, it feels impossible to do anything "right". Now, a recent study shows that even doing something as important and simple as protecting your skin from the harsh UVA/UVB sun rays by using sunscreen can have a devasting impact on the surrounding coral reefs.

According to an article on National Geographic.com , a recent study in the journal Environmental Health Perspective found the four common chemicals in most sunscreens "awaken dormant viruses" in the algae that live inside reef-building coral species. The sunscreen chemicals cause the viruses to replicate and eventually spread into neighboring coral communities. Without the healthy algae, the coral 'bleaches'—turns white—and dies."

The researchers in the above mentioned study estimate that 4000-6000 metric tons of sunscreen washes off swimmers worldwide each year. The good news is that means more people are consciously protecting themselves from the sun. The bad news is it potentially can be harming 10% of the coral reefs worldwide.

What can a person do to continue to protect themselves from the UVA/UVB sun rays, therefore lessening their chances of developing skin cancer and premature aging, while still protecting the oceans that they swim in?

• One easy solution is to purchase UPF 50+ sun protective swimsuits and rashguard shirts. These provide more reliable protection from the sun because they don't wash off like sunscreen. In addition, they lessen the chemicals you would be exposing your skin to, as well as exposing to the coral reefs.


• For the areas that are not covered with UPF 50+ sun protective clothes, study leader Roberto Danovaro (of the Polytechnic University of Marche in Italy) says to use sunscreens with physical filters, which reflect instead of absorb ultraviolet radiation and use eco-friendly chemical sunscreens.

So, enjoy your beach vacation with a clean conscious and healthy skin!