Researchers are encouraging pediatricians to emphasize the importance of skin care and sun protection to parents and children, with the goal of combating the escalating problem of skin cancer in the United States. According to a study published in Pediatric Dermatology, individuals receive an estimated 50 percent of lifetime exposure to the sun, prior to the age of 18. This statistic suggests that children may be one of the most vulnerable age groups to the sun’s harmful rays.

With melanoma and other skin cancers on the rise, it is vital that sun protection begin at an early age. According to the study, pediatricians reported counseling patients and parents on sun protection in less than one percent of doctor’s visits.

Research implies that if children are taught regularly to take extra precautions against sun exposure, the exponential rise in skin cancer in the United States may be curbed. Simple solutions to helping your child prevent harmful UV ray exposure are:

• Applying sunscreen regularly
  
• Wearing a hat for outside play.
  
• Limiting sun exposure

While these suggestions may seem fairly basic, they can be highly effective at preventing sun damage and ultimately skin cancer.

Doctors are being asked by researchers to proactively make sun protection a priority in pediatric counsel. “We recommend that pediatricians counsel children and their parents about UV protection,” Dr. Mandeep Kaur of the Department of Dermatology at Wake Forest University commented.

Another growing cause of melanoma and non-melanoma cancer is tanning. Artificial and natural methods of tanning have shown to be directly correlated with the onset of skin cancer and should be avoided as best possible, according to the study.