We want children to enjoy their time in the sun, while being safe and comfortable.
Sunshine is a great way to get healthy doses of vitamin D. However we all understand the dangers of repeated unprotected exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This exposure can cause skin damage, eye damage, immune system suppression, and skin cancer.
It's important to teach our children how to enjoy fun in the sun safely.
One of the best ways to protect children is to cover up and shield skin from UV rays.
Wear sun safe swimwear at the beach and by the pool.
Wear a hat.
Use a reputable sunscreen on exposed skin.
Encourage your children to wear UV protective sunglasses.
Little Red Fish uses fabrics that are independently tested and rated as UPF50+
UPF stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor.
The UPF rating indicates how much of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation is absorbed by the fabric (and not your skin). The higher the UPF rating, the more you are protected.
For example, a UPF 20 rating means that only 1/20th of the UV radiation will go through the fabric. So, you will reduce your skin's UV radiation exposure by 20 times. This is only true in the locations of your body where the fabric is covering you.
A rating of UPF 50 is the highest rating.
There are three categories for sun protective clothing:
- Good UV Protection - UPF 15 to 24
- Very Good UV Protection - UPF 25 to 39
- Excellent UV Protection - UPF 40 to 50 blocks 97% - 99% of harmful UV radiation.
Little Red Fish fabrics are not treated with chemicals to achieve their sunsafe properties. The sunsafe factor is achieved by the denseness of the weave (or knit) of the fabric.
Some of this information was sourced from kidshealth.org and various other reputable sunsafe sites.
