Max Monkey and cigarettes

It’s a typical afternoon in the Singleton-Ratcliff household.  I’m working and B is looking at a book with M.  M is pointing at various items in the pictures and B talks about it, things like, "Max Monkey has a ball.  It's a yellow ball.  Oh look, over here he threw the ball to his friend. Nice throw Max Monkey."

Then I hear …

B: “ ... and here’s Max Monkey at the beach with cancer.  Here’s the sand and shells and a bucket ... ”

Me: “cancer?”

B: “Yeah. No sun hats, no Zinc, nothing, it’s ridiculous … we may as well be showing him 7-year-olds with cigarettes.  Hooray, a day at the beach with cigarettes.”

Me: “uuhhhh … “

He's not joking.  B takes sun protection very, very seriously.

Well, of course, you say ... after all, his profession is health promotion.  It's his job to tell us how bad the sun is for us.

You would think that.  But it's more than a side-effect of his career.  It's a life-long passion.  According to B's older brother, he took on the Australian model of smart sun behavior at about 9-years-old and never let go.

When I was growing up, we had "tanning lotion", not sun block.  Somewhere around my early 20s, sun block came into fashion.  In my 30s I heard advertising for moisturizers and foundations with sun block "to prevent wrinkles caused by the sun's damaging rays".  But, as far as I can tell, the US smart sun behavior is about 20 years behind Australia's.

Why?

I assumed they had higher UV index and greater risk to sun damage leading to cancer.  But, looking at the charts, this isn't true.  They're almost identical (just flipped vertically since we're on opposite sides of the equator).  In fact, the risk today in Portland is higher than Melbourne.

So, since no one else is giving you this information, I will.  Here's a sample of the education Australians receive from the time they are wee little ones:

Protect your skin
For best protection, SunSmart recommends a combination of sun protection measures:
Slip on some sun-protective clothing - that covers as much skin as possible
Slop on broad spectrum, water resistant SPF30+ sunscreen. Put it on 20 minutes before you go outdoors and every two hours afterwards. Sunscreen should never be used to extend the time you spend in the sun.
Slap on a hat - that protects your face, head, neck and ears
Seek shade
Slide on some sunglasses - make sure they meet Australian Standards
Extra care should be taken between 10am and 3pm when UV levels reach their peak.
For information on how to protect your skin from sun damage, see SunSmart.

Can you imagine if sun smart behavior was emphasized in public education as much as anti-tobacco efforts? 


**Update (May 12):
B: "I've taken a texter (Sharpie to you and me) to Max Monkey.  Soon everyone will be wearing a hat."


**Update #2 (May 15):
So we've had a "Very High" UV index in Portland for a few days now.  My efforts to persuade my coworkers to stay covered and shaded from the sun have been met with mocking.  Apparently, I'm an overprotective mother hen type now.  C'est la vie.  You can mock me as long as you still cover up people.