Skin cancer in its deadliest form, melanoma, is on the rise and this relates to children of all ages.

1. Babies: Cases of pediatric melanoma have increased

100% in the last 20 years! (Michigan State Medical

Society)

Almost everytime I’m outdoors, I see babies or small

children in their strollers with their faces and heads

unprotected from the sun. And while I do notice more

small children than ever with hats on their heads, there

seem to be triple that amount without.

All it takes is a little awareness to keep a hat on and to

make sure the back of the stroller is to the sun. When

80% of the sun’s damaging UV rays happens in the first

18 years of life, parents can give the gift of life twice …

once giving birth, and the second protecting their skin.

2. Teens: 2.3 million teenagers (part of 30 million

Americans) use tanning beds. Ultraviolet rays are the

primary factor in developing skin cancer and are 15 times

greater in a tanning booth than outdoors. Up until now,

there have been very few warnings about health risks in

tanning salons.

Finally, legislators are trying to change that. 25 states

across the country want to restrict youth access to

indoor tanning facilities. In addition, if passed, this

legislation would require parental consent for anyone

under 18, along with the listing of potential health

consequences in these salons, and licensing by the

state.

This is a potentially life-saving public issue and any

help parents can give both at home with their children

and in their support of their representatives can only

help save lives.

3. Women ages 20-29: They’re adults but they’re still

somebody’s children. Melanoma is now the second most

common cancer in this age group.

While it is best to get kids started early on the

habit of using sun protection, better late than never.

You know how to talk to your children best, but if

you see a tan on your daughter, you might ask how

she came to it…beach? tanning salon? Or, fake

tanning lotion which of course would be Choice No. 1

other than, perhaps, no tan at all.

4. African-American or Asian children: The risk for

melanoma isn’t as high as with Caucasian children,

but it can be more deadly because a lesion or

irregular mole can’t be seen as easily.

Talking with them at all ages about sun protection

and teaching them what to look for is and examining

them regularly is vital.

5. The perfect tan. For years, the perfect tan was looked

at as the way to look healthy, attractive, thinner (believe it

or not), and possibly even rich (if you have time to lounge

in the sun, you really must be well off). And the warmth

of the sun feels good. There’s no doubting that.

The perfect tan is still sought today. Lines form around

some of the more popular tanning salons, grown women

included.

But now we have information we didn’t have.

Irrefutable information. It’s hard to ignore it

and worse, later on, if we’re one of the unlucky

ones, what do we say to ourselves – and our

families? It’s just a little extra effort for potentially

a longer and healthier life. Is the perfect tan worth

losing all that?