Shady warnings from the Surgeon General

Dear Reader, A few weeks ago, I was sitting outside on a gorgeous sunny day with my beagle, Remington. I was reading the newspaper, minding my own business, when I turned the page and got admonished by a message from the Surgeon General. The pronouncement? Indoor AND outdoor tanning must stop! Honestly? Do, we really need the Surgeon General to tell us to get out of the sun? How many times have we heard that message by now? Don't get me wrong, I agree that too much exposure to UV radiation is dangerous. And while I recommend getting 20 minutes a day of direct sun exposure WITHOUT sunscreen, it's important to wear it the rest of the time you're outside. (Just make sure to choose a natural, organic, non-toxic sunscreen like Lavera, Aubrey, Earth's Best, or Soleo.) Yes, skin cancer is on the rise. But the skin cancers emerging now are often from damage done to the skin 20, 30 or even 40 years ago. Considering no one was aware of the potentially harmful effects of excess sun exposure back then--and no one wore sunscreen--of course we are going to see increasing numbers of skin cancer now. Now, I'm not encouraging you to go sit in a tanning bed. But I think enough light (or should I say shade) has been shed on this topic. Today, everyone is well aware of the importance of sunscreen. So what prompted this new, dire warning from the Surgeon General? Well, it seems that 5 million Americans are treated for skin cancer each year at a cost of $8 billion. Ok--point taken. But let's compare that to the yearly cost of obesity and all of its associated illnesses in the U.S. That annual sum adds up to a whopping $700 billion. And overweight and obesity affects roughly 200 million Americans. Now that's something that a Surgeon General needs to address. But knowing our government, I can only imagine what "urgent" warning he'll move on to next.