Swimwear
More Is Better
Almost all swimwear fabrics provide more effective sun protection per square inch than does sunscreen.
Due to the risk of skin cancer caused by the sun, the beach, lake, or outdoor pool is not the kind of place where people, especially children, should have lots of bare skin exposed.
The Fashion Cycle
Swimwear has evolved over the ages, based mainly on three concerns:
Morality
Function
Fashion Trends
In ancient times, men and women bathed or swam in the nude (of course separated from each other).
The Victorian era ushered in modesty-driven billowing full coverage dresses and leggings so that women could enter the water in public without showing any skin. It’s a wonder they didn’t all drown!
Then came the sexual revolution of the twentieth century and its influence on the fashion industry resulting in the trend to wear as little as possible at the beach. That ill-fated fashion trend, plus the embrace of intentional suntanning, has contributed strongly to our current epidemic of skin cancer.
Time has come for swim fashion to cycle back
MORE is IN!
Safety First
Q: What should be parents’ main concern when preparing their children for swimming?
A: Safety of course! And that definitely includes sun safety.
Skimpy bathing suits are so NOT sun safe. AND so fashion-yesterday!
Swimshirts, like those commonly worn by surfers as a rash guard, offer an ideal alternative for providing good sun protection while still affording the option for individuality and cool fashion.
What’s not to love? Compared to slathering the entire trunk and abdomen with sunscreen, a swimshirt is much faster to apply, free of chemicals and nano particles, more effective, and less expensive.
Rather than obsess about the UPF of the fabric, more attention should simply be paid to the amount of skin that it covers.
These days a swimshirt, or long sleeve/long leg swimsuit, should be “the norm” for all children enjoying recreational outdoor water sports. Adults too!
