Sunshine has become the new tobacco

Getting some rays is important, just don't go stupid in the sun and damage your DNA – or, worse still, that of your children, says Dr. Phil Hammond

Should parents of sunburned children be referred for neglect?

Sunburnt skin is a sign that DNA has been damaged Photo: ALAMY

By Dr. Phil Hammond

7:55AM BST 19 May 2014

I’ve never been much good at sunbathing. I’m ginger and freckly, and the first time I burnt in the sun I was dubbed Salmon Hammond. But the main reason I avoid the rays is that I find the whole culture of sun worship boring. Far better to be pale and interested.

For many doctors, sunshine has become the new tobacco. The incidence of malignant melanoma – the most deadly type of skin cancer – has leapt sevenfold since the 1970s. More than 13,000 people in the UK develop the disease each year, compared with about 1,800 in 1975. The culprit is exposure to ultraviolet rays from holidays abroad (or at home) and sunbeds. Melanoma is now the fifth most common cancer in Britain, and the most common cancer among women in their 20s.

Too much sun also gives you the kind of skin that wouldn’t look out of place on cowboy boots. If you really want to look forty years older than you are, smoke while you’re sunbathing. It’s a fast track to winning Best of Show in a prune competition.

^{Ray Winstone in the film Sexy Beast}

Some sunshine is good for you. It elevates the mood and can improve skin conditions such as psoriasis and acne. You also need some regular sun exposure to get your body making vitamin D. Lack of it leads to osteomalacia in adults and rickets and fatigue in kids. Symptoms of sun deficiency are making a comeback, due not just to the elderly, who can’t get outside, but the young, who refuse to be dragged away from their X-boxes.

Moderation is the key. When you’re not used to the sun, it’s easy to go mad for it and suffer total burn out. Sunburnt skin is not only very painful, but a clear sign the DNA has been damaged. Children who burn badly have very unhappy holiday memories and a drastically increased risk of melanoma in later life. Adults can make their own mind up about the sun, but letting your kids burn is tantamount to child abuse.

Some sunbeds are safer than others, but we’ve all seen people who’ve either fallen asleep or over done it, sporting the panda effect as a result: a beetroot face surrounding white circles where the goggles were. Sunbed tans look artificial too, and are certainly no more convincing than the tans you can get out a bottle without the smell of burning flesh.

Better still, just be happy in your skin. Overdo any tan – real or fake – and you look like the Tango man. Slop on the sunscreen (minimum SPF 15 and good UVA protection), get your fifteen minutes of rays, then find some shade, a good book, a cold beer and chill. Oh, and show any moles that are an odd shape, rapidly enlarging, have jagged edges or uneven colour or are itchy or bleeding to your GP.