Saturday, July 9, 2011

What is the best sunscreen?

I love summertime! It is great to be outdoors enjoying beautiful days at the beach, pool and water parks. I feel a good mood in the air!

Even though we should apply sunscreen on every day, it is especially important during summer.

According to World Heath Organization (WHO) kids are at higher risk of suffering UV damage than adults, requiring special protection. They say that skin cancer risk significantly increase with a single sunburn in childhood, which could be prevented by adopting simple precautions.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that unprotected skin can be damaged by UV rays in as little as 15 minutes and the WHO says that tanned skin is damage skin. Any change in the color of your child's skin after time outside - whether sunburn or suntan - indicates damage from UV rays.

For better protection, WHO and the CDC recommend to stay out of the sun between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. during summer, to cover up your child's skin with clothes and hats that protect against UV rays and to apply sunscreen generously 30 minutes before going outdoors on the parts of the body that remain exposed , like the face and hands. They also say that sunscreen should never be used to prolong the duration of sun exposure and that it is important to reapply it every 2 hours specially after your child swims or exercise ( and this apply to "water resistant" and "waterproof" as well).

According to Patricia Treadwell, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis " The sun protection factor (SPF) should be at least 15, but you generally don't need to go higher than 30: Over than that and you're getting smaller and smaller amounts of added protection - which, in a chemical sunscreen means a higher dose of unwanted chemicals."

Today there is a large variety of sunscreens on the pharmacy's shelves, but which one is the best?

Consumer Reports Health identifies tree "CR Best Buys:"

1 - Up & Up Sport SPF 30 (Target) - Spray


2 - No-Ad with Aloe and Vitamin E SPF 45 - Lotion



3 - Equate Baby SPF 50 - Lotion



All three products provide "Excellent" protection against UVB (which causes sunburn) and "Very Good" protection against UVA (penetrates deeper than UVB causing tanning and aging of the skin).

Good thing to know is that you don't have to pay to much to get a very good sunscreen. Some very expensive ones scored lower overall comparing to a less expensive.

So, let's protect ourselves and enjoy the summer!


Stumble Upon Toolbar

10 comments:

  1. I've used the NoAd on my kids, and it works great! They never got burned while using it. It's especially important to us to find a good sunscreen in Arizona, and my wife has had skin cancer removed, so we're double safe when it comes to sunscreen.

    I did have a problem finding the NoAd in stores around here, though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of the brands (can't remember the name) makes a sunscreen stick for kids that is AWESOME. I only use it on my son's face, and it's probably the best invention ever. I have to make sure to really protect his scars from his cleft lip repair from the sun, and this makes it so simple. Plus, it doesn't run in his eyes! You can find these sticks almost anywhere!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Sooperjeenyus Thanks for your feedback!

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Momma Teacher Lady Thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am bad about only wearing sunscreen on my face and neck. But I need to find something truly non-greasy and truly scent-free, because I want to start applying it to my hands and arms daily and I'm already getting a farmer's tan from my commute to work and back.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm your newest follower from blog frog. I can't give advice on kids sunscreen.... (I'm still working on my journey to having a little one). Hope you'll stop by my blog.

    PS I love your logo photo at the top.....so precious!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi! Visting you from Blog Frog as well. Just started following up. It gets really hot here in Atlanta,GA. Sunscreen is important especially for kids since they play outside in the hot sun. I make sure my daughter keeps that lotion on!

    Love the blog, follow me at iphonemom.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great post!

    Visiting from Blog Frog and following you now! Will you follow back? http://ourlifewords.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is great info and thanks for sharing. Funny, I just wrote a post about sun protection, a kiddie version. But it's so important to communicate this to our kids.
    Have a wonderful rest of the week,
    Barbara
    Español para Niños (Spanish for Kids)

    ReplyDelete
  10. hi! we're new friends on bloggymoms so i thought i'd come check out your blog! thanks for the great info on sunscreen, i just recently started using badger sunscreen which is completely zinc based and smells great..it does leave the white film..but you can definitely pick out the 'casper' looking kids out of a crowd! hehe

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...