Parents urged to ask camps about sun protection

Parents who send their kids off to summer camp hope they stay protected from the sun's strong rays, even without mom and dad there to slather on the sunscreen or demand that hats stay on.

As awareness of the sun's dangers has grown over the past few decades, experts say camps are keeping up, though parents should ask about sun policies to be sure.

“There are many camps that make this a top priority, but you've got to make sure that either the education is provided by you or you're sending your child to a camp where they take this seriously,” said Dr. Amy Paller, a pediatric dermatologist at Northwestern University.

Rates of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, are rising in all age groups, including children and teens, making sun protection especially important for young people. “The data is clear that early sun exposure and especially sun damage greatly increases skin cancer over a lifetime,” said Dr. Lawrence Eichenfield, chief of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego.

Summer camps are now providing indoor activities and outdoor areas shaded by trees and tents, and are encouraging campers to wear protective clothing, such as hats and swim shirts. Sunscreen, too, has become a big part of camp life for the estimated 10 million children who attend each summer.

There weren't bottles of the stuff around in the 1970s and early '80s when Ken Schainman attended Camp Mohawk in White Plains, N.Y., where he has worked for years and is now a director.

“When I was first a counselor in 1985, that was the first time that sun became an issue,” he recalled. “I had a camper whose father was a plastic surgeon, and he was the first camper I remember whose parents were insistent upon sunscreen twice a day, every day.

“Now, it's virtually all the campers,” he said.

Dermatologists recommend that a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher be liberally applied before going outside, and again every two hours and after swimming or sweating. That would work out to several reapplications during a camp day.

How or whether it gets done depends on the camp and the camper. Camps train staff to remind campers about using sunscreen; some allow counselors to reapply it, while others won't. Some camps supply it daily, others don't.

At Mohawk, campers are asked to arrive wearing sunscreen, and to reapply it throughout the day themselves or ask another camper for help. Younger children get help from a counselor, although another staff member must supervise to avoid any question of impropriety, Schainman said.

“It's unrealistic to have 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds put on sunscreen without any help,” he said.

Children 8 and up can be taught to put on sunscreen correctly, but younger children generally need help, Paller said.

Marisa Mandrea once sent her son, Max, now 6, to a private camp and signed a waiver allowing counselors to help with sunscreen. But last year, he went to a municipal-run camp that did not allow counselor assistance.

“My son, who's never been sunburned, came home sunburned,” said Mandrea, of Northbrook. Her husband, a dermatologist, “read them the riot act,” she said.

The Northbrook Park District, which runs the camp, tells children to reapply sunscreen themselves or team up with a friend. “We just like to play it really, really safe with any of the personal contact with the children,” said the district's leisure services manager, Cathi Klaver.

This summer, Mandrea is sending her son to a different park district camp, with orders to use his sunscreen stick and spray every day. “It's not like I'm doing it, but it's better than nothing,” she said.

In Pasadena, Calif., Tom Sawyer Camps started providing sunscreen to campers at its four programs about 15 years ago, and counselors will lend campers a hand. The camp is all outdoors, and relies on oak trees and pop-up tents for shade.

“Everyone's become more aware of skin cancer and preventive work,” said executive director Sarah Horner Fish, adding that counselors will be required for the first time this year to take an online sun-exposure tutorial produced by the Environmental Protection Agency.

This summer, 10-year-old Jack Nathan will head back to Camp Pontiac for his second season at the sleepaway camp in Copake, N.Y. He loved the activities and newfound independence last year.

What his mother, Bradi Nathan, didn't love was hearing that he rarely used the sunscreen she packed. In online photos she saw, Jack looked radiant. Nathan, of Livingston, N.J., thought it was from all the running around he was doing.

Jack said he didn't use sunscreen often because he was busy having fun, although he applied some on hot days. “If the counselors reminded me, I'd forget in two minutes,” he said.

His mother added: “Once they hit 10, 11, (camps) trust they'll be responsible themselves, but they're not. They're too young.”

When choosing sunscreen, dermatologists recommend finding a product your child is willing to use. There are lots to choose from: sprays, lotions, creams and gels.

“There are so many excellent formulations, and children and teens often have their own idea of what they like on their skin,” said Eichenfield, in San Diego.