To think you aren't okay to soak up sun just because you have dark skin?

[puthimdownnow]

It's something I've noticed people mention and go on about quite a lot. Certain comments like "These people are always a lovely blonde and brown skin colour".

Or "I've never seen anyone from certain places in Spain burn".

Just because someone has very olive skin doesn't mean it's okay to spend more time in the sun!

My family are from someone small near Spain. As a child nobody ever put suncream on me and I would be in just a nappy on the beach as a baby. I spent my childhood a very 'brown' colour and so did most other children around me.

However, just because someone tans very well doesn't mean their skin isn't getting very damaged. Why do people seem to think a tan equals healthy 'sun kissed' skin? And burning is seen as the much worse of the two?

AIBU to say lots of foreigners (including my own family) aren't really all that sun cautious at all? Especially with their children. I still see it now when I go and spent a week away. Lots and lots of children are a very tanned shade and spending a lot of time unprotected in the sun.

I dread to think what damage has been done to my skin as a small child, without my consent. The same goes for lots of children living in hot climates.

Fair-skinned people are at greater risk of skin cancer. So if you’re olive-skinned the risk is reduced.

Do you have a link for that, makingmammaries?

I'd've thought fair-skinned people were at more risk of sunburn, but that all humans were equally at risk of skin cancer - so it would be great to understand if this is incorrect.

You were hardly exposed deliberately and as a child how could you protest?
Your parents and the majority of the world probably didn't realise either.
Now we do thank goodness

Hi Sushi

If you look up skin cancers on the NHS website, under the causes section there is a list of other risk factors which include fair skin that doesn't tan, red hair, blue eyes and being someone that freckles easily. This is true for both non-melanoma and melanoma cancers. Xx

OP when I've holidayed and visited hot countries people tend not to be in the sun in the hottest part of the day unless they are tourists from Northern Europe. This doesn't mean they completely avoid the sun.

Oh and on the other hand in the UK there is are loads of people with vitamin D deficiency. Incidentally a few I know personally have olive skin. Though I know people with very fair (so burn in the sun) to dark skin who have issues.

I seem to remember from vague googling a long time ago that blond North- Eureopean types have a hundred times more chance of getting skin cancer than people with mediterranean type colouring.Will see if I can dig it up.

Not sure olive and dark skin are the same thing? I have light olive skin - basically look pale and sallow green. I tan with many short repeated exposures but I do burn if I overdo it and growing up my skin peeled a few times

I wish there was clearer guidance tailored to different skin tones so we could find the sweet spot between getting enough vitamins and not damaging your skin!

I dread to think what damage has been done to my skin as a small child, without my consent. The same goes for lots of children living in hot climates.

YABu for this comment, until recently there was very little research and awareness about the risk of UV radiation for people living in hot countries & with dark skin. Now that you know protect your skin & encourage your friends & family to do the same.

This is one of the most recent sun & skin awareness campaigns I've seen:

www.stylist.co.uk/life/do-you-need-sunscreen-if-you-have-dark-skin/266284

The darker a persons skin the less risk of skin cancer. The more melanin, the more you’re protected.

That’s not a free pass for anyone to coat themselves in tanning oil and go bake in the sun, but dark skin tones don’t have to slather on SPF50 and protective clothing just to go about their lives in a hot, sunny climate. A lot of skin cancer orgs advise that very dark skin tones don’t need sunscreen at all for daily life. Dark olive people aren’t in that category, and they should use sunscreen if they’re going to soak up the sun more than normal, but they are ok to expose themselves quite a bit more than fair people. Fair olive people who tan well do need to watch themselves though. They’re safer than than fair people who freckle and burn, but they’re still fair and thus not very protected by melanin.

When dark skinned people do get skin cancer it’s often melanomas in places that are very rarely well protected by anyone of any skin tone, for example nail beds and palms and undersides of feet.

Eye damage is an equal risk to everyone, so protective sunglasses are important for all of us. Sunscreen is much more of a sliding scale thing.

Yabu.

This is the second over the top ‘won’t anyone think of the children’ freaking out about sun damage thread in 24hrs. Weird.

Your parents and the majority of the world probably didn't realise either.
Now we do thank goodness 

It would've been less than 20 years ago. Skin cancer isn't that new on the radar of knowledge.

Melanin is a pigment which blocks UV radiation so the more melanin a person naturally has in their skin, the less susceptible they are to cancer caused by UV light exposure. There is obviously a wide spectrum of skin tones though, so while someone from, say, Italy may have more melanin and therefore be more protected than someone from Norway, they are not absolutely safe and should still take precautions.

The risk of skin cancer is less but there is still damage to the skin which is not good. Darker skin can still burn.

You can get vitamin D from other sources besides the sun like food.

Everyone needs sunscreen regardless of skin tone. UV rays are still hitting your skin regardless of what colour you are.

Because of the stupid myth that people with darker skin don’t get skin cancer, too many were told/led to believe they didn’t need it and were shocked to find out they have skin cancer. I still get looks from lighter people or questions when they see me put on sunscreen. Besides, my skin is also sensitive when it comes to the sun depending on where I am. Being in it even for ten minutes can make my skin feel like it’s burning and makes me feel faint. I put on sunscreen almost daily unless I know the UV index is low or I’m not going to be outside for long.

The same goes for lots of children living in hot climates.

People living in hot climates don't expose themselves to the sun the way Westerners do. I'm of Arab heritage and people in the M.E. do everything possible to avoid the sun. They don't even go out at peak sun hours.

I'm very olive skinned and I was horrendously allergic to all sun cream as a child. I spent a lot of time as a little tanned baby and child. My parents lives abroad a lot before I was born so I was never allowed out during the hottest part of the day and had to wear a t-shirt when swimming etc. I've never ever had sun burn but I know for a fact my skin is damaged and now I've found suncreams that don't break me out/give me an allergic reaction I slap them on constantly.

It's only since having my kids I've really become aware of it. One of my dds is a typical English Rose and the other is a bit more like me, but still fair. Even if my kids were olive skinned like me I would cover them in sun cream and keep them out of the sun. I dread to think what my skin looks like under one of those UV lamps.

Having said that my mum used to cover herself in coconut oil when she went in the sun. Definitely of a different era.

My family are Spanish too and i don't think i saw sunscreen until i was a teen - the awareness just wasn't there. However, what we did know was that the hottest part of the day was for resting/sleeping in the shade. When i was in Spain i played outside without sunscreen a lot but i also very rarely left the shade in the summer when the sun was high.
Sunscreen might be a relatively new thing to some warmer countries (and my grandparents view it as some sort if modern affectation) but people have known for centuries about the dangers of the midday sun and their lifestyles have developed accordingly