Habits of infants sunlight exposure
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24220/2318-0897v19n1/6a828Keywords:
Sunbathing, Growth, Jaundice, Skin neoplasms, Maternal nutrition, Vitamin DAbstract
Objective
This study investigated the habits and reasons for mothers sunbathing infants.
Methods
A total of 403 mothers of infants aged 1 to 6 months living in the region of
Campinas, SP, answered a questionnaire to determine how often and how long
their infants sunbathed in the past week, the clothes they wore and sunbath
location. The sample was based on a pilot. Data collection occurred in weeks with
less than 4 sunny days. The following were assessed: mother and infant
characteristics, advice they received (vitamin, sun) and their concepts (positive or
negative) about the sun. The data were treated by the chi-square and Mann-Whitney
tests and logistic regression (D5%).
Results
Mothers are three times more likely to sunbathe their infants if they know its
beneficial effects (odds ratio of 2.7, p=0.0001). One-third of the mothers were
advised to sunbathe their infants to improve jaundice but they stopped doing so
when the child was no longer jaundiced. Mothers are more familiar with the
negative effects (89.6%) of sunbathing than the positive ones (79.0%), and blame
the media for this information (52.5%). The negative effect mentioned most
often was skin cancer (56.7%). Regression analysis showed no association between
this information and sunbathing the infant. Almost one-third (32.8%) of the
mothers did not sunbathe their infants. Sunbathing was associated with skin
color. Most children sunbathed from 5 to 15 minutes before 10 in the morning
or 4 in the afternoon, with clothes on and outdoors, while 16.9% sunbathed
indoors, sometimes through glass.
Conclusion
Sunbaths should not only be prescribed, but mothers should be informed about
their benefits. It is necessary to emphasize not only their immediate effects, but
also the long-term effects
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