Are children particularly vulnerable?
Yes, children are at a higher risk of suffering UV damage than adults, and therefore require special protection. A short time outdoors in the midday summer sun can result in serious burns – and even a single sunburn in childhood may significantly increase their skin cancer risk. Also, children have more time to develop diseases with long latency such as cancer, more years of life to be lost and more suffering to be endured as a result of impaired health. Children love playing outdoors and spend much more time in the sun than the average adult. Estimates suggest that the majority of a person’s lifetime exposure to UV radiation is received before the age of 18.
