How To Protecting Children From The Sun

For our bodies to remain healthy, it is essential that a certain level of exposure to the sun be allowed. However, the potential health risk comes when the body becomes over exposed to harmful UV rays for prolonged periods of time, leading to long term skin damage.

The sun harms our bodies through the UV rays penetrating the skin resulting in long term damage to the cells. Often there is no indication that the skin is becoming burnt until that tingly sensation occurs to the area burnt. In severe cases sun burn is extremely painful and will last for many hours. If this occurs, the area affected should be covered from all sunlight until such time that the pain resides.

Most damage to the skin occurs when the temperature is not at its hottest, therefore tempting people to take fewer precautions.

One particular age group particularly susceptible to burning are small children. It is therefore vital for us to take as many precautions as possible in order to protect them to the best of our abilities.
There are many ways of reducing the risks of children becoming burnt, but two of the simplest methods are still the best and are;

· Wearing Sun Cream
· Staying in the Shade

Sun Cream

Although not advisable to leave young children in the sun for hours on end, wearing a high SPF factor sun cream will lengthen the amount of time that can be spent in the sun without the skin becoming over exposed. To properly protect children’s skin, the cream should be applied liberally to all exposed parts of the body paying particular attention to the tops of ears, nose and back of the neck. The cream should be rubbed in well and applied around 20minutes prior to exposure for optimum results.

To maintain greater levels of protection, sun cream should be reapplied every couple of hours and directly after swimming.

Staying in the Shade

Providing a shaded area in which to stay protected from the sun is a really effective way of allowing children the pleasures of playing outdoors without any risks of skin damage. Ideal ways of providing shade in the garden are through the use of sun awnings. At the touch of a button, this type of solar shading solution will create a large area of shade, under which children can play, paint or enjoy a meal.

Retractable awnings offer a versatile shading solution for protecting your children because when no shade is required, or when the weather is not great, they can be stored neatly in a cassette housing unit that is simply fixed to the wall (usually above a patio area, doorway or bright window)

Awnings vary in sizes, so anything from the largest patio awnings can be installed down to a small window awning that might be used to provide shade for a children`s bedroom window or nursery.

In addition to the shading benefits that retractable sun awnings offer, should there be a sudden onset of rain, the area beneath the awnings will remain dry as the water will simply run off the fabric of the sun awnings and run onto the adjacent ground.

Author Bio

Article written by Dan @ sunawningsonline.co.uk. For more information on a wide range of sun awnings, window awnings, patio awnings and a wide range of other solar shading solutions that will keep you and your family safe from over exposure to the sun be sure to search online.