Cultural Differences Regarding Children and the Sun

This week, we are busy planning our vacation this summer. All the fuss over choosing the right beach destination has reminded me of our summer vacation last year on the Island of Ischia, just off the coast of Naples. It was our first visit to Ischia with the Bambina.

Ischia has some long, albeit crowded, beaches as well as some fantastic thermal water parks, and so of course, I wanted the proper bathing attire for the Bambina. Back in France, I had purchased for an anti-UV swimsuit for her. It is a one-piece suit that covers her entire torso, upper arms and thighs.

Now, in the United States, these suits appear to be commonplace. The Bambina had worn her anti-UV swimsuit when she went swimming during our visit to New York City a month before our vacation in Ischia. When my friend in New York, Pamela, saw her in it, a look of grave concern fell upon her face. "Are you sure that suit covers enough of her skin?" she asked. "You know, most people here like to make sure that small children are completely covered, from neck to toes, when bathing outdoors." And sure enough, her 3-year old daughter stepped into the room wearing a neon pink anti-UV suit covering every inch of her epidermis, apart from her face, hands and feet.

"Well", I explained, "In France, these suits are just catching on, and this is what you get. I don't think that you can get the full cover ones in France." "Hmm", she replied, her voice still full of grave concern, "Order off the internet next time! I can send you a link of a good site. The sun's rays can cause serious skin cancer."

Upon arriving at the beach in Ischia, I realized that we had a different cultural battle on our hands. Every child was in nothing more than bikini-sized swim pants and some of the little girls were wearing, er, a thong! The Frenchman urged me to take the anti-UV suit off the Bambina. "She'll feel like a freak if she has to wear it and no one else does" he said.

I refused to take the anti-UV suit off the Bambina. First of all, she was barely 2 years old at the time, so she hardly realized or cared that she was the only one in an anti-UV suit. Secondly, you should have seen these kids. Most of them had skin that was almost black from the sun. Some had severe burns. Both suntans and sunburns are harmful to a child's skin. So the anti-UV suit stayed on.

A couple of hours later, I went off to get some ice cream while the Frenchman played with the Bambina. When I returned, an Italian mamma was berating the Frenchman. She was saying, in rapid Italian and in near hysteric tones "Take that suit OFF the poor girl. She needs the sun!"

Have these people talked to their pediatricians lately? Noone needs the sun so much that he has to run naked under it all day for weeks at a time in August.

"Just put some cream on to prevent the burning", she continued. "You are depriving her of vitamin D by putting that suit on her!"

Er, she wears clothes the rest of the year (and I might add, she is not nearly as overdressed as her Italian peers most of the time) and she still seems to get enough vitamin D, even in the winter. But if I ever had reason to be concerned about the amount of vitamin D that the Bambina was getting, I would give her some vitamin D drops or give her some fish to eat or take her out in regular clothes in the early morning or late afternoon when there was also plenty of daylight. You don't need to parade your child naked in the August midday sun to ensure sufficient vitamin D!

So I was trying to explain this to the over-zealous mamma but the Frenchman stopped me in my tracks. "This is a cultural battle", he explained to both of us, "as much as it is a scientific battle. A Canadian mother and an Italian mother? You will never agree about the dangers of or the need for the sun. There is no point in continuing this discussion."

And I suppose he was right.

The anti-UV suit from last year does not fit the Bambina anymore, so this week I will buy her new one for this year's summer vacation in the south of Italy...