WELLINGTON CTY. – While there may not be as many layers to put on or school viruses to worry about, there are still health issues that parents can help pretect their children from in the summertime.
Sun exposure, mosquitoes and ticks are the main health risks Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) warns parents.
“We would encourage outdoor play time with the understanding there may be some things in the environment that parents can do to help reduce some of those environmental risks that are out there,” said WDGPH nurse Rachel McDougall.
Sun protection
On days that are hot and sunny the common but still major concern is making sure children stay hydrated. The easiest way to stay hydrated is to carry a reuseable water bottle and make sure children have access to one during the day’s activities.
“We tend to suggest that children and people in general stay out of the sun during 11am and 3pm. Those are the peak hours,” she said.
McDougall also recommended families use broad spectrum sunscreen when they are out in the sun and reapply it every couple of hours.
Health care professionals do not reccommend applying sunscreen for babies under the age of six months.
Instead McDougall recommended children wear hats, sit in shaded areas, wear light clothing to cover more of their skin and wear sunglasses to protect their eyes.
“Trying to get kids to wear sunglasses with a broad spectrum coverage… I think that is one of the areas that often gets forgotten.”
Bug repellent
While mosquitoes and ticks might make people think twice about enjoying the outdoors, McDougall’s message was to get outside but make smart decisions to protect children against bugs.
Mosquitoes are more active during certain times of the day like dusk and dawn. They also tend to be prevalent in wooded areas and in standing water.
The best way to repel mosquitoes is to wear light coloured clothing. McDougall cautions against leaving standing water on your property.
“If you are using rain barrels make sure that they are screened well enough so that mosquitoes can’t lay their eggs in there. For children’s play pools, I believe it’s every couple of days to dump the water and refill so that again you don’t have that standing water for them to lay their eggs and then produce more mosquitoes on your property,” explained McDougall.
Bug repellent sprays that contain DEET are not recommended for children under the age of six months. For children ages six months to two years, health professionals recommend using bug repellents that contain no more than 10 per cent DEET and they should be used only once a day.
For children aged two to 12, parents should use sprays with only 10% DEET up to three times a day. Each application tends to work for three to four hours.
Those over 12 years of age should only apply sprays with up to 30% DEET. One application of a repellent with that concentration will be effective for five to eight hours.
Products that contain DEET protect against ticks as well as mosquitoes.
Another component in some bug sprays is icaridin which protects against both ticks and mosquitoes.
Sprays should be applied to clothing. Applying spray directly onto skin and then placing clothing on top increases the absorption of the product into the skin according to McDougall.
“If it is just open skin you can put it on that but ideally it then gets washed off before going to bed and covering over any of those parts with additional clothing,” she said. For parents getting children ready for camp it is important to pack them with bug spray that either contains DEET or icaridin and instruct them on how it should be properly applied.
“The other thing that they can teach their kids to do is if they are going to be going on hikes then if they can wear light coloured long clothing and even tuck pants into socks and make sure you are wearing close-toed shoes because then the ticks are on the clothing instead of going onto your skin,” McDougall explained.
After a child has been outside, parents should also do an overall tick check.
For more information go to www.caringforkids.cps.ca.
