Is tanning that bad?

[oneh2obabe]

How can you not afford supplements? You can get a bottle of D3 (1000 IU 25mcg) on sale for $5.00. Take 1 pill daily from October 1st to April 30th and you get your vitamin D plus it alleviates SAD symptoms.

[underscore]

You also seem confused as to how much sun is needed... You 10/10 a post that says 5 to 30 minutes twice per week is enough, then come right back with your own post that says 20 minutes per day is necessary (20 minutes per day everyday of the summer is enough for me to develop a tan... So are you advocating for tanning now?). Which advice should we follow? Which one do you follow? And how do you get your vitamin D in the winter months?

20 min/day =/= tanning.

[normaM]

> sun is bad. kill the sun worshippers. maybe get rid of the Sun altogether. Problem solved. I should run as an Independent LOL

[WeatherWoman]

Like I said I don't care what you do as an adult, but the article the OP quoted is about youth and I am all for regulation. I also think it's sad that media and society portrays people with a tan as heathy and beautiful and people with out as sickly and ugly.....when in fact tanning can be harmful especially if you become addicted and that real beauty comes from the inside.

[Jonrox]

20 min/day =/= tanning.

All I said is that I'd get a tan if I was outside "sunning" myself on my deck for 20 minutes/day every day of the summer. To me, getting a tan = tanning.

I'm still wondering how much sun we need though... we've been told 10 minutes per week, but also that 140 minutes is what we need. That's a pretty big gap.

[underscore]

Tanning is kind of a vague description to begin with. Like you said, to you tanning is whatever gives you a tan. To me, tanning is when people are lying out in the sun for hours to get a tan, and I'm pretty sure it's the people intentionally frying themselves for hours that will have problems, especially when they let themselves burn.

How many times have you guys heard the old "I tan well after I burn for the first time"?

[Jonrox]

If this movement is all about youth, it should also be incorporating an education component about options for getting enough vitamin D. If they're going to avoid the sun like it sounds like they'll be doing, they need to be educated about:
- the dangers of vitamin D deficiency.
- the available supplements including how and where to get them.

There are consequences to staying out of the sun and they need to be taught how to effectively deal with them.

[Jonrox]

Tanning is kind of a vague description to begin with. Like you said, to you tanning is whatever gives you a tan. To me, tanning is when people are lying out in the sun for hours to get a tan, and I'm pretty sure it's the people intentionally frying themselves for hours that will have problems, especially when they let themselves burn.

How many times have you guys heard the old "I tan well after I burn for the first time"?

I agree 100%. There is never a need to burn and I don't know why people are ok with it. A burn isn't a prerequisite for a tan. It's painful and looks terrible.

My Mediterranean heritage gives me the ability to achieve a tan with relatively little sun. So although I don't "tan" according to the definition many people would use, my body "tans" quite easily. When I go on winter vacations to hot destinations, it's nothing but 30 sunscreen applied consistently through the day, but I still get very dark and never burn.

[WeatherWoman]

If this movement is all about youth, it should also be incorporating an education component about options for getting enough vitamin D. If they're going to avoid the sun like it sounds like they'll be doing, they need to be educated about:
- the dangers of vitamin D deficiency.
- the available supplements including how and where to get them.

There are consequences to staying out of the sun and they need to be taught how to effectively deal with them.

I got this education as a new mom, so I would say it's pretty wide spread knowledge that Vitamin D is important. You give your infant Vitamin D. It's in milk.

Eat naturally D-rich foods. Eat oily fish such as salmon (360 IU), sardines (250 IU), and tuna (200 IU) a few times a week.

Go for fortified foods. Look for D in milk, orange juice, and other fruit juices (100 IU), soy milk (120 IU), butter substitutes (80 IU), and some cereals and yogurts.

Take a supplement. Add a calcium-and–vitamin D supplement containing at least 400 IU of D daily. (Most multis contain this much, and many calcium-vitamin D supplements contain 1,000 IU per capsule.)

Enjoy the sun. Whoa! Is that really possible without hurting your skin? Experts say yes. Just 5 to 10 minutes is usually enough.

[WeatherWoman]

Table 3: Selected Food Sources of Vitamin D [11]
Food IUs per serving* Percent DV**
Cod liver oil, 1 tablespoon 1,360 340
Swordfish, cooked, 3 ounces 566 142
Salmon (sockeye), cooked, 3 ounces 447 112
Tuna fish, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces 154 39
Orange juice fortified with vitamin D, 1 cup (check product labels, as amount of added vitamin D varies) 137 34
Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D-fortified, 1 cup 115-124 29-31
Yogurt, fortified with 20% of the DV for vitamin D, 6 ounces (more heavily fortified yogurts provide more of the DV) 80 20
Margarine, fortified, 1 tablespoon 60 15
Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 2 sardines 46 12
Liver, beef, cooked, 3 ounces 42 11
Egg, 1 large (vitamin D is found in yolk) 41 10
Ready-to-eat cereal, fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, 0.75-1 cup (more heavily fortified cereals might provide more of the DV) 40 10
Cheese, Swiss, 1 ounce 6 2

[Jonrox]

I got this education as a new mom, so I would say it's pretty wide spread knowledge that Vitamin D is important. You give your infant Vitamin D. It's in milk.

Yet as many as 2/3 of Canadians aren't getting enough. There's a disconnect somewhere.

Looking at the Cancer Society's Toolkit for the challenge there's no mention of safe levels of sun exposure, no information on how the sun's rays are used by our bodies to make vitamin D, and no mention of the dangers of vitamin D deficiency or how to get it from other sources. Without giving impressionable, young students the whole picture on tanning, cancer, and the importance of vitamin D, this is an irresponsible and dangerous program.

There should be a learning component to the program that teaches students who are going to stay out of the sun, how and where to get alternative and adequate sources of vitamin D.

Skin cancer is one of the most easily treatable forms of cancer when detected early (a fact clearly outlined in the toolkit) - it's not nearly as dangerous as the other forms that people increase their exposure to with vitamin D deficiency.

[zzontar]

I'm guessing someone who lets their kids have exposure to sun, dirt, bacteria, and whatever else we've been exposed to forever will end up having healthier kids than one who doesn't.

[WeatherWoman]

What does that have to do with the article?

BTW my kids do all that, but we are smart about sun safety between the hours of 10am-3pm.

[Jonrox]

I think zzontar is saying a lot of parents are too overprotective of their kids these days.

[WeatherWoman]

Fitting for this thread! BTW I am rockin' it!