A US study suggests that children in daycare may not always learn about sun protection or UV protection as teachers are more concerned with their lessons on healthy food habits, brushing teeth and regular exercise.
Usually, in the month of July, kids are more vulnerable to harmful UV rays. Researchers, therefore, surveyed 202 administrators in this period in collaboration with managers and teachers of daycare centres in Illinois.
After the survey, the researchers found that most of the participants teach the toddlers about health regime, exercise and food choices and not about the harmful effects of the sun rays, the need to wear bike helmets or the necessity of vaccination.
Lead author June Robinson from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Robinson of Medicine in Chicago states that sun's seasonal shift in Illinois is the reason why sun safety receives little attention.
According to the reports in JAMA Dermatology, the daycare programs did provide sunscreen for all kids, but nearly 77% of these programs refused to allow kids use sunscreen themselves.
It may be possible that nursery schools are strictly following the state regulation which does not allow kids to apply sunscreen on themselves without doctor's prescription and that only school nurses can apply sunscreen on kids with a prescription when required.
"Daycare centres aren't bound by these regulations, but it might still influence their decisions," said Robinson.
Half of the people use spray sunscreens to protect the kids from the harmful rays of the sun.
However, there lies a possibility that head start programs may prefer to spray sunscreen compared to daycare centres. Spraying sunscreen on kids might go wrong if not sprayed properly on their faces. It might affect their eyes or they might end up inhaling it. These programs did not inform the kids about sunburns and UV rays or of the guidelines to keep children safe from the harmful sun rays.
