HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 January 1943, Page 6

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

RULES FOR SUNBATHING. OVERDOSES TO BE AVOIDED. (By the Health Department). Overdoses of sunburn have been the source of frequent complaints during the last few weeks. Children have come home with pink and painful skins as the result of unwise exposure to the sun, and in quite a few cases they have gone down with sunstroke. Sensible sunbathing is the only form of sunbathing, and parents should see to it that children get it in moderation and take on that desirable tan gradually. Don’t rush it. Here are some rules that are worth following. The best hours for sunbathing are before 11 a.m. and after 3 p.m. during the mid-summer season. Sunbathing in the midday sun, particularly in the northern districts, is extremely risky. If a feeling of tiredness, giddiness or sickness is experienced after sunbathing, watch out for trouble. It is a sign that you’ve been out in the sun too long, and some nasty consequences may follow. Children react differently to sun exposure. Fair skins have to take it cautiously—more cautiously than those with dark and olive complexions. The following doses of summer sunshine are prescribed as being perfectly safe: First day, five minutes front and five minutes back; second day, seven minutes; and third day ten minutes. Continue by increasing the time two to five minutes daily until twenty minutes back and front is reached. Remember, this is the dose for young children. And see that their eyes, head and back of the neck are protected with a sun-hat. This, with a pair of short trunks, is the most effective sunbathing costume.