{"id":27718,"date":"2016-08-15T00:42:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T00:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/keep-it-simple-when-choosing-a-sunscreen-for-your\/"},"modified":"2016-08-15T00:42:39","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T00:42:39","slug":"keep-it-simple-when-choosing-a-sunscreen-for-your","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/keep-it-simple-when-choosing-a-sunscreen-for-your\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep it simple when choosing a sunscreen for your kid"},"content":{"rendered":"

{As our first beach vacation with two little kids loomed, I had to do one of those chores that sounds easy but turns out to be anything but. I had to buy sunscreen. It seems like the task should take five minutes on Amazon. But as any parent with an internet connection knows, the choice is fraught.}<\/p>\n

You can pick from formulas that block rays with chemicals or minerals such as zinc oxide. SPFs can surpass 100. There are lotions and sprays, \u201corganic\u201d and \u201cnatural,\u201d \u201csensitive\u201d and \u201csport.\u201d Some are marketed specifically for kids. Some are endorsed by various interest groups. And then there\u2019s the cost. Highly rated sunscreens on Amazon vary in cost by 3,000 percent. Amid the chaos, I ended up picking an SPF 30 and being done with it.<\/p>\n

With the beach vacation behind us, I\u2019ve had the presence of mind to take a clear-eyed look at the sunscreen boondoggle. It seems that my trouble was in some ways a mess of my own making. I was distracted by zippy marketing words that obscured the core attributes of a good sunscreen. It turns out that the task can be pretty simple, if you keep a few key things in mind.<\/p>\n

Look for SPF of 30 or higher.
\nThe sun protection factor is a measurement that tells you how long the sunscreen will protect your skin from sunburn-causing ultraviolet-B rays, as compared to no sunscreen at all. Sunscreens with an SPF of 30 will protect you from UV-B rays for 30 times longer than normal. Say you\u2019d normally burn after 20 minutes in the sun without any sunscreen. After you correctly apply a sunscreen with SPF 30, you\u2019d be able to go 10 hours. Sunscreens with an SPF of 30 will block 97 percent of UV-B rays. There may be diminishing returns as the SPF number goes up, though. There\u2019s little evidence that SPFs over 50 offer increasing protection.<\/p>\n

Make sure the sunscreen says \u201cbroad spectrum\u201d on the label.
\nThat means the sunscreen will thwart both UV-A and UV-B rays. UV-A rays are thought to be responsible for deep skin damage, while UV-Bs are the ones that cause sunburns. Both flavors of the sun\u2019s rays can increase the risk of skin cancer.<\/p>\n

Choose one that\u2019s water resistant.
\nThat doesn\u2019t mean that water won\u2019t wash it off. No sunscreen is completely waterproof, a fact that means sunscreens are no longer allowed to make that claim. <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t necessarily trust the ratings.
\nOf the sunscreens in the top 1 percent on Amazon, a full 40 percent of them failed to meet the criteria set out by the American Academy of Dermatology \u2014 SPF of 30 or higher, broad spectrum and water resistant, a recent JAMA Dermatology paper found.<\/p>\n

Use it.
\nAs study coauthor Steve Xu of Northwestern University says, \u201cPicking the right product is only the first step. Using it correctly is just as important.\u201d Put sunscreen on to your kids before they go outside, so the sunscreen can soak in. Make sure to cover all exposed skin, including the tops of ears and toes. And reapply every two hours, or immediately after your kids get out of water. <\/p>\n

Those are the main points. Of course, you could choose to wade through a lot more weeds in the decision. Sunscreens based on physical blockers, such as zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, reflect the sun\u2019s rays. Chemical blockers such as oxybenzone absorb the rays and get rid of the extra energy in harmless ways. Mineral-based sunscreens may be less likely to irritate babies\u2019 and children\u2019s skin than chemical blockers, for instance.<\/p>\n

The jury is still out on spray sunscreen, which aerosolizes the particles and promises fewer child chase-downs. The FDA has called for more data to evaluate those. And then there\u2019s the question of sunscreen for babies younger than six months. Most sources say that when possible, opt for shade and hats instead of sunscreen for the littlest babies.<\/p>\n

So as you prepare for your time in the sun, stick to a few basic facts to help you choose a sunscreen. Instead, apply the time you save toward forcing cute sunhats on your squirmy kids. <\/p>\n

\"Simplify<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{As our first beach vacation with two little kids loomed, I had to do one of those chores that sounds easy but turns out to be anything but. I had to buy sunscreen. It seems like the task should take five minutes on Amazon. But as any parent with an internet connection knows, the choice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[75],"byline":[2486],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-27718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","tag-homenews","byline-science-news"],"bylines":[{"id":2486,"name":"SCIENCE NEWS","slug":"science-news","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2486,"name":"SCIENCE NEWS","slug":"science-news","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27718"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=27718"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=27718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}