20 minutes a day in the sun is good for you

Health campaigners are always telling us that nobody takes any notice of them but now a leading charity are worried that one campaign has been too successful.

Worries over skin cancer mean that some people are now avoiding the sun completely according to the National Osteoporosis Society (NOS).

In an NOS poll last month, most people said there was no such thing as safe sun exposure. This is not true. Sun helps the body to create vitamin D which is vital in keeping bones strong and preventing osteoporosis (which affects 1 man in 5 over 50). 

Sunscreen need not always be applied before going out in the sun. In fact, according to the NOS, 15 to 20 minutes of sunlight on the skin will help promote vitamin D.

Yet skin cancer rates are increasing. So how do you keep your bones healthy without getting skin cancer?

Professor Roger Francis, from the NOS Medical Board, told the BBC: 'We are not advocating spending lengthy periods in the sun, as too much sun causes skin ageing and melanoma.

'Furthermore, staying in the sun too long means that the body breaks down surplus vitamin D shortly after it is produced. Lying on the beach for two weeks will not top up levels for the rest of the year.'

Caroline Cerny, from Cancer Research UK, said: 'The amount of time in the sun required to make enough vitamin D changes from person to person and depends on things like skin type, time of day, time of year, and where you are in the world.

'We all need a bit of sunshine in our lives, but it's important to remember that the amount of sun needed to make enough vitamin D is always less than the amounts that cause reddening of the skin or sunburn.'

Safe sun summary:

• a small amount of direct sun (up to 20 minutes with no sunscreen) every day including cloudy ones is good for vitamin D and will not cause skin cancer.
• But much longer won't help vitamin D and can cause cancer.
• And burning is to be avoided.