Baseball? Check.
Glove? Got it.
Sunscreen?
Howard County health officials don?t want parents and youth to forget that last item before they go to the ballpark this summer.
With banners reading “Got sunscreen?” at county ballparks, Howard County General Hospital and the Howard County Health Department are reminding families to lather up.
“We find the most damage is done before the age of 18,” said Michelle Brittingham, director of the cancer control program at the Health Department and secretary of the Howard County Cancer Coalition. “That?s why it?s so important to reach children at such a young age.”
Each sunburn children endure can increase the risks for developing melanoma or other skin cancers when they are older, said Paul Gleichauf, vice president of Howard County General Hospital.
Children should avoid severe burns that blister and long-term high levels of exposure, said Dr. David Monroe, head of pediatric emergency medicine at the hospital.
In 2005, 35 cases of melanoma were diagnosed or treated at the hospital, according to the hospital?s annual cancer program report.
“If we can get people thinking of prevention and early detection, it will hopefully reduce the incidents our kids see 20, 30, 40 years from now,” Gleichauf said.
Banners hang at fields at Kiwanis Wallas Park in Ellicott City, with a goal of one banner at each of the county?s 11 ballfields.
Most youth seem to get the message, Brittingham said, but sometimes they don?t apply enough. At least an ounce of sunscreen is required and should be applied about 15 minutes before going outside. People should reapply every two hours, she said.
But time will tell if the message is really getting through.
“We haven?t seen the results of the awareness we are showing the kids now,” Brittingham said.
