Bring me sunshine

摘要

The sight of three young children with badly sunburnt faces was all it took. An Ohio county sheriff charged their mother, Eve Hibbits, with the felony of "child endangerment" and had her thrown into jail. Though she was released a week later when the felony charges were dropped, the case attracted widespread media attention. The message to the public was clear: neglecting to apply sunscreen to your kids is a form of child abuse. Few can plead ignorance of the risks. Every summer we are bombarded with official warnings to avoid all exposure to the sun's cancer-causing rays. But what if the official advice is wrong? A handful of dissidents around the world say that shunning sunshine actually increases our risk of cancer. They argue for a more balanced approach: as long as people don't go over the top, moderate sun exposure is beneficial, they say. It's a controversial message that angers most health professionals who have spent the past 20 years exhorting people to keep out of the sun. Now one of the sunshine advocates is preparing to stoke the argument by publishing detailed guidelines on how much sun we should soak up each week. With research likely to be published soon on the risks of sun phobia, and a major conference in October, sunshine is becoming a hot topic.