Healty Skin is 'Made in the Shade'



Shade Structure sponsored by Dr. Tim Rosio at AnewSKIN



Dermatologists have been helping to add sun shade structures to communities, schools, and non-profit centers with grants and education. Dr. Tim Rosio, a Sacramento region board certified dermatologist in El Dorado Hills, California says that  dermatologists are receiving much more moral support now that nonprofit organizations are saying that playing outdoors is a great way to prevent or deal with growing obesity in children. 



A recent article in USA Today (6/30, Szabo) reports, "At a time when one-third of children are obese or overweight, a movement is growing to provide more shade at playgrounds, parks and pools, both to reduce future cancer risk and promote exercise." As a result, "across the USA, communities are working to make school play areas greener, with more trees, shrubs and natural shade," says Richard Louv, co-founder of the Children & Nature Network, a non-profit group encouraging youngsters to play outdoors. However, trees take years to grow.  In the meantime, some schools and municipalities are erecting shade structures over playgrounds so children can avoid overexposure to the sun. Over the past several years, both the American Academy of Dermatology and the non-profit Shade Foundation, founded by a melanoma survivor, have donated grants to construct shade structures for children. Despite the AAD’s generosity thus far, those seeking grants for shade structures greatly exceed funding, and the AAD could only award 37 grants among some 500 applicants in 2010.



Shade structure sponsored by Dr. Rosio at AnewSKIN



About the AAD Shade Structure Program Each year the American Academy of Dermatology sponsors a Shade Structure program for schools across the nation to receive $8,000 grants towards building a Shade Structure at their school to shield the children from harmful Ultraviolet rays. Each shade structure comes equipped with a permanent sign displaying the AAD’s "Be Sun Smart" messages to promote the importance of sun safety.  Additionally, each of these schools is sponsored by a dermatologist of the AAD. Stanford trained dermatologist, Dr. Tim Rosio has sponsored a total of four schools in the past three years.