There is no doubt that in my family, I am "the fairest one of all." Little Miss is, of course, the darkest. Little Buddy is a soft tan and continues to darken as he grows (as is co mmon with biracial children). Phil tans easily in the sun and rarely gets a sunburn. Even Little Man--formerly known as "white boy" in our household until we decided the nickname might give him a complex--gets a little rosy red, then promptly develops a nice protective suntan. Since I am definitely the most prone to painful sunburn--even having blistering and peeling on occasion--it is no surprise that I rarely forget the sunscreen. I promptly sunscreen myself and all the kids as soon as we start playing outside. Thoroughly sun-screening an African American child has caused a few comments among friends, but I always figured it had to be good for Little Miss as well as the other kids. My pediatrician recommended it, and I figured it never hurts to be safe. After all, I've already got the sunscreen out for myself, so how much harder is it to just do all the kids, too?
Still, though I am a conscientious sunscreener, I had never actually learned specifics on how the sun can affect people of color. Therefore, I was really excited to see an interesting article on skin cancer on the front page of CNN.com yesterday. It's worth a read, especially if you are dark complected or parenting someone who is dark complected. It turns out dark skin does offer some natural SPF protection. Very dark skin, like Little Miss', offers as much as SPF 13 sunscreen. The CDC, however, recommends a minimum of SPF 15 for everyone. So even Little Miss, who is full African American, needs sunscreen to be fully protected.
The article goes on to say that skin cancer in people of color is not as uncommon as you might think (Did you know Bob Marley died of skin cancer?), and it is much harder to diagnose. A lot of public awareness has been done to help fair skinned people identify possible melanomas, since those with light pigmentation are 10 times more likely to develop skin cancer. Unfortunately, this means even a doctor may not be able to identify a possible problem spot on a person of color simply because s/he may never have seen one before. Since skin cancer is best battled very early on, this presents a danger to people of color.
Reading about cancer risk is always sobering, but at least it's nice to know I'm doing the right thing and not just being crazy-over-protective. I have a great sunscreen combo that makes catching and sunscreening the kids super-easy. I use a rub-on bar of "Coppertone Water Babies" (SPF 30) that is quickly rubbed on everybody's faces and also easy to keep in purse or diaper bag. I finish off our bodies with "Banana Boat Kids Tear Free Continuous Spray Sunscreen" (SPF 50). This was a great find...it sprays on like bug spray, with no messy lotion and no rubbing. It takes no time at all to catch, protect, and release each kid, and the combo is easy to apply on myself, even when I'm wearing my backless swimsuit.
So enjoy the great outdoors and break out the sunscreen! As my Mom always said whenever we left the house, "Have fun and be safe"!
