to be astounded at the number of people stripped off sunbathing in the park when everyone knows how BAD that is for you?

[LadyBiscuit]

In an era when smoking is more or less banned and the government spends a fortune telling us to eat better and drink less, why are so many people so obsessed with getting a tan when we all know how bad it is for you?

Apart from skin cancer, all the sun worshippers I know look much older than they really are because they are so lined from lying in the sun.

I find sunbathing a bit bizarre, but then I too burn easily. It takes me a long time to tan and then it disappears quickly, so I've never seen the point. I find it easier to stay pale year-round instead. Plus I have loads of moles and would find it hard to spot a new or dodgy one.

I see why people do it, I suppose. I just never want to do it for myself.

YABU - as posted above, there is an epidemic of Vit D deficiency (particularly among dark skinned people) and it is being linked to many diseases, both physical and mental. IvyKat - so long as your friend hasn't had skin cancer or radiation treatment that has made the skin sensitive, vitD is actually good for her. Of course people should not lie in the sun for hours and hours but some exposure is fine. So what if people look old, that's not a crime.

You don't need to lie out in the sun for hours in a bikini doing nothing other than 'getting a tan' to avoid Vitamin D deficiency. That's what I'm talking about, not people just doing stuff in the suntan.

It's just so pointless

Incidentally if you wear a jilbab/burqa, how do you avoid Vit D deficiency?

I lie in the sun in a bikini for a while on days like this. It makes me feel alive and lifted and I battle depression and anxiety.

I also look 8 yrs younger that my real age.

YABU, just get on with your own life. If a child was out there uncovered and unmonitored you would have a valid point.

Gosh I had no idea this would be so controversial.

Bless you sun worshippers

YABU - they may have sunscreen on.

YANBU - my Mum recently died young from skin cancer and every single one I see feels like a slap in my face.

I am willing to accept that is my issue though.

oh god get over oyurself

Oh god, I'd sunbathe if I could tan. Your eyes and teeth just look brighter. I have real tanability envy

at grapeandlemon looking 8 years younger. How do you know it's 8 and not 9 or 7?

8 years younger?
What , did you do some kind of survey? How does eight years younger look I wonder

Yes, it's daft. But in this crappy climate we have to grab it while we can.

My skin doesn't burn though so a few minutes in the garden reading in the sun is bliss.

LB Fair enough
That's a good point though about what to tell your ds. i don 't know what I'd say. I'd obviously want to discourage my son from sitting out i that, but they are 2 and 16months, but when they are adults I doubt they'll listen to me
Normality Sorry about your mum

How can anybody actually stand being out in this heat, let alone sitting around in it!

YANBU and they are all as mad as a box of frogs for wanting a tan, yes they look great now but you wait until it catches up with them they will all look like [[http://king.typepad.com/mike_king/images/2008/06/30/aminorsunburn.jpg this

Bugger link didn't work ... this

lol

we've all been in the sun, in our swimmers, slathered in factor 30. still getting a tan though. DCs go v brown very quickly. DS has stripey legs.. white to his knees, brown, then ankles down are white..just from being out and about at school in shorts.

YABU as we only get a few weeks a year where the weather is like this and as long as people wear sun creen then surely it's their choice. If they don't and burn thats their own fault .

I have been at friends all day out to park on bikes at 9.30am before it got too hot then in garden until 3. The kids were smothered in SPF 30 every hour and had t- shirts on for a bit and sat in shade for lunch.

They are not burnt and have had a lovely day in the pool.

Its like everything - moderation is the best. Govnt says healthy eating but I've not seen them ban cream cakes yet!!!

I have a colleague in the office over from India on secondment. He started suffering from a complaint brought on by vitamin D deficiency - not much sun in the UK.

YABU btw and slightly nuts

im wiht q
find somethign else to worry about
should we all stay indoors? NO

Again, I am not suggesting we all sit indoors! Just that lying out for hours purely in pursuit of a tan is a bit of an odd ... err ... pursuit

Anyway can't we talk about the wider issues around black and asian people wanting to be lighter while white people want to be darker? What's that about??

Ah,- live a litttle, eat some chips, have a glass of wine or three!
Just chill!

I do all sorts of things that are bad for me.

Adults get to do what they like to themselves. If we start saying "Well this will cost the NHS money" we are going to have to all sit very still...and then we will all die of DVT anyway.

Do I think you have to be a bit mad/stupid to lie in the sun? Well yes. But no-one is asking me too so it doesn't matter.

Life is dangerous (and fun).

At least drinking and eating chips are fun

I can see I'm very outnumbered on this so I'm off out into the garden. No sunscreen or anything!

I had Vit D deficiency, Quattro. I couldn't believe it! But I did.

It might be because my skin is olive.

I do have SAD, in addition to my garden-variety depression, and noticed my mood improves with nicer weather.

Got a nice long walk with wee man, my legs and arms basting in the sun.

Ahhhhhh.

Have some nice colour on my arms, just need to get it going on my legs.

I also smoke from time to time still and, in the past, drank vast amounts of booze and slept with lots and lots of guys.

So I figure, what's a little sun?

YABU. I'm always covered head to toe, partly cos of crippling body-image ishoos, and partly cos I am a proper blonde.

Last year I had various aches in my joints, went to the GP, had blood tests, turned out I had a severe Vitamin D deficiency

Cue much hilarity (of the "Headbanger's got rickets!" variety) and me sunbathing this year (in Factor 30 natch).

Terror of the sun is unhelpful.