Consider making your next baby gift a pair of sunglasses – a gift that is thoughtful, unique, practical, a gentle reminder for new parents to start sun protection early, and, hopefully, a trendsetter that others will follow. 1. Infants’ eyes absorb more harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays than adults. Infants have relatively large pupils, allowing more […]
Update: protecting kids from the sun
(After you read the article, test your knowledge. Look at each picture and ask yourself what the parent could have done better to protect the child from the sun. Answers are at the end of the article.) Just when you thought that you knew all you have to know to protect your kids from the […]
THE SUN DOES TO INFANTS’ SKIN WHAT TOBACCO SMOKE DOES TO ADULT’S LUNGS
1.The younger the child, the greater the risk. Young children burn rapidly. Their skin contains less melanin to neutralize the sun’s rays. Severe sunburns early in life increase the chances of cancer in later life. Children spend much time outdoors and with increasing longevity have ever more years of exposure ahead of them. 2. Rethink […]
Children/Cold weather/Car rides/Health and safety
Many steps that parents take to keep infants and toddlers safe and warm for car rides in cold winter weather are ineffective, unhealthy and, sometimes, dangerous. Here is what you should know: 1. Secure your footing when maneuvering a car seat and infant in and out of cars. Is the ground icy? Holding an infant/car […]
Dr. Karl Neumann’s Kids Travel Doc: 10 Tips for Protecting Kids From Sun Protection
Yes, you read it correctly. So many parents have become so conscientious about protecting their children from sun exposure that an increasing number of children are getting too little sun. What are parents to do? 1. Several years ago we wrote: “The sun does to skin what tobacco smoke does to lungs. Both produce progressive, […]
Summer/Children/Outdoor Health and Safety
Here are ten of the most healthful tips from the forty topics posted in the past year: 1. June is the month for maximum sun exposure. In June, in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is closest to Earth, straight above you, and there are more hours of sunshine, all increasing exposure. Weather is generally cooler […]
Keeping Kids Healthy When Swimming
Swimming: The source of many illnesses Most kids’ favorite summer activity is swimming, no matter if it’s splashing in a small backyard pool, or on the beach of a five-star resort. But the reality is that no fun activity is totally safe and healthy. For information on water safety, see TenTips: Waterfront. For avoiding illnesses […]
The Sun is No Friend of Children
The sun does to skin what tobacco smoke does to lungs. Both produce progressive, cumulative, and irreversible tissue damage, often culminating in very serious health issues many decades later. But it need not happen. There are positive rays of sunshine, too: information on how to neutralize the harmful effects. Here is what you should know: […]