Why it is important to be sun smart
The sun has positive effects: it makes you feel happy, regulates your biorhythm and enables your skin to produce vitamin D. But the sun also has a downside: your skin can burn and your immune system is suppressed. Some of the disadvantages of too much sun only become apparent later in life. Skin damage is harmful to everyone, but damage caused by UV radiation from sunlight can have particularly serious consequences for children; their skin cells are especially vulnerable. In growing children, cell division occurs so quickly that not all damaged skin cells can recover before they begin dividing again. ‘Scars’ develop in damaged cells, which children carry with them for the rest of their lives. This cannot be seen from the outside: the damage is deep within the skin cells. The more ‘scars’ there are, the greater the chance that a child will develop skin cancer later in life.
Blog
Renate Aarts is a staff member at Kindercentrum Petito’s in Dongen. She coordinates out-of-school care and is a Healthy Childcare coach. She wrote the blog ‘Protection from the sun: make it a party!’ about sun protection for Kinderopvangtotaal.
Registration
Take part in a week full of fun activities and important lessons about sun protection. Is your location unable to participate during Sunshine Week? You can also carry out the activities at another time. And good to know: Sunshine Week is an activity recognized by the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment). Recognized activities offer a greater chance of achieving good results. Register your childcare organization via www.zonnetjesweek.nl and receive free materials.