SUN-BATHING

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 12518, 30 November 1938, Page 7

SUN-BATHING

CARE OP CHILDREN While the value of sunlight as a means of restoring and maintaining fitness is beyond dispute, evidence is not lacking that knowledge about the use of this great natural tonic is still lamentably deficient. Every summer large numbers of people become ill through over-exposure to strong light and so lose the advantage which a holiday in the open can give. The chief sufferers are the children.

Indeed, there is no more uneasy spectacle for a doctor than that of children, newly emerged from the towns being exposed naked or nearly naked to strong sunlight on sea beaches. These children possess no natural protection against the actinic or chemical rays of the sun. In consequence they are frequently severely burned, and often become seriously ill.

The difficulty which must be faced when a child goes to the seaside from city or town is, therefore, the acquisition of a good dark tan without injury or discomfort. The child must meet the sunlight half-way, so to speak.

This process demands patience and care. During the early days of the holiday the child must not be undressed in the open, but it may wear thin loose garments which expose forearms and legs. When these uncovered parts of the body begin to tan the upper garments may be removed during short periods. On the first or second occasion on which such removal takes place the shoulders and the back of the neck should be lightly smeared with lanoline. A day or two later a child may wear a beach or bathing costume for perhaps half an hour at a time. But if the skin does not respond quickly in the matter of tanning the process must be delayed. In fact tanning takes place without direct exposure if thin fabrics are worn and consequently there is no excuse for haste. Children, too, vary greatly in the matter of light-sensitive-ness and ought to be consulted as well as considered. If they object to being exposed to the sun such objection ought to be a law for their parents. It is exceedingly difficult to persuade parents of the truth of these statements, so deeply ingrained is the idea that a “sunbath” must be beneficial in any circumstances. Babies, indeed, are sometimes exposed naked during long periods and are occasionally left in positions in which their eyes are subjected to a

glare that must be almost intolerable. These children are being grossly ill-used and may be seriously, even permanently, damaged in health. Those doctors, indeed, who know most about heliotherapy are i most afraid of taking liberties of any kind with the sun’s rays. They display, as a rule, a degree of caution which seems absurd to the uninitiated. But their parents derive benefit on a scale commensurate with that caution. It must be added that on arriving at the seaside children ought to wear hats so constructed as to cover the nape of the neck and ought in n circumstances to go about with bare heads. These rules apply also, of I course, to the country, though the light is always strongest beside the sea, which acts as a huge reflector. The chemical rays of the sun ar cold rays; heat, in consequence, has no place in these considerations. The fact that a cool -wind is, or is not, blowing is of absolutely no significance. Terrible sunburn can be sustained among snow and ice if the atmosphere is clear. Cloudy days are of great value when' a tan is being acquired because, on such days, if the clouds are heavy, exposure can safely be increased both in respect of time and of the area of skin uncovered. “Cloud shine” is much more potent than is usually supposed.