Amen to that.

I would like to see a study giving a rational time line for sun exposure - we have way too many people who are deficient in Vitamin D. Ten minutes is ridiculously short, especially for dark people, and hours is foolish. There is a happy medium. I personally do not trust sun block, there is always a price to pay.

The sun is not what it was. Or, perhaps I should say, the atmosphere that protects us from it is deteriorating. The changing chemistry of the ozone layer makes exposure more dangerous than when I was a kid (1960s) and even then, I would warn my mother she might die of skin cancer, as she baked in the back yard. She would say, "Yeah, but what a way to go." Everybody makes their choices.

Waste of space. There's already enough of that in the Globe these days.

Astonishingly bad column!

Melanoma is the second-most common cancer in 15-29-year olds and the rate of melanoma in young women 15-39 has increased 50% over the last 30 years. Studies have found a 75% increase in the risk of melanoma in those exposed to UV radiation from indoor tanning. Ms. Graham's portrayal of herself as a willful sun addict is a poor attempt at humor. I think she believes her job as a mother is to amuse her daughter rather than to safeguard her from known, inherent harm.

Anyone who has witnessed a loved one die from melanoma is not going to thank Ms Graham for her un-funny column. If she gets such a diagnosis I am sure she will change her tune.

I don't get what the Obama administration has to do with going outside in the sun. The tax is on tanning beds, not the sun. Tanning beds have been shown to seriously increase the risk of skin cancer. They are frivolous and unnecessary. That actually makes them the perfect thing to task. Since if you use one, you are more likely to get skin cancer, requiring medical treatment. Think of the tax as an investment in your future health care. Let's take the monetary equation out further: Overexposure to the sun does not only cause fatal melanomas, but also basal and squamous cells cancers which require surgeries and lab tests and treatments as well. All very expensive. As usual, prevention is the cheapest cure. Besides, people are vitamin D deficient not because they use sunblock but because they don't go outside at all!! To me that is the real issue. People, send your kids outside to work off some excess energy and let them explore! If 10 minutes without sunscreen is all you need to get your Vitamin D for the day, do it, then slather up with sunscreen and have at the great outdoors.

This line (That actually makes them the perfect thing to task.)makes more if its says: That actually makes them the perfect thing to tax!

Remarkable that a species that evolved to live outdoors, under the sun, without sunscreen, had decided it should now spend no more than 10 minutes a day in the sunlight. Of course, we also convinced ourselves that refined carbohydrates were good for us, so our track record is not unblemished in figuring out how to live healthfully. All I can say is, last weekend riding my bike on the Cape Cod Rail Trail reminded me well how much I enjoy being outdoors in the sun, feeling the radiant heat warm the back of my shirt as I pedal along...

Ah, damn! I see the sun-haters and fear mongerers are already here. What I would have told you, Jennifer, is that these folks are inevitable - whether it's sun or ocean, bicycling or motorcycling, air or sleep or walking or eating (eating especially), the "this is serious and you are setting a bad example and you should not live the way we do not want you to live" folks seep from across the internet to find you and chastise you. Stay in the sun all you want. I'm on your side. I ride a motorcycle - you know, I'm an organ donor - so I'm all for people doing whatever they want as long as they understand the risks. Being told not to take those risks is out of bounds.

Oh, yes, and I've had a form of cancer that has nothing to do riding a motorcycle or doing anything more than being born into a gene pool that seems predisposed to getting this cancer. I guess being born is also a risk.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.Our mania for "good weather" and disregard for global warming has given us an overabundance of sun,unfiltered by a sufficient ozone layer-so we need to exercise some caution e.g not sun bathing at high noon. Attempts to advocate for healthy food and healthy life-style choices gets cast as spoiling the "good life" and the "nanny state."

Amazingly irresponsible column. There is nothing cute and clever about ignorance. There is a significant difference in the risk associated with going out in the sun and using tanning beds (10 minutes of research on Google will get you all the info you need). Also, as another comment pointed out, due to changes in the atmosphere the risk from the sun is different today than it was when many of us were kids. I love the sun. I love having a tan. Weather permitting I'll be at the beach every chance I get this summer. With my pale Irish skin I've also been incredibly lucky that I've only had one, inconspicuously located squamous cell carcinoma and that was over 20 years ago. Others in my family haven't been so lucky. It is possible to enjoy the sun while recognizing and mitigating the dangers. The writer of this column just sounds stupid. Also, what does any of this have to do with the Obama administration?

. . . . . and leave a beautiful corpse.

Many of my friends had melanoma and these people were in there 20', 30's and so on. It drive's up healthcare cost's/premiums and can kill you. BTW: tans/burns are out of style. Only dated people go to the beach to get tans. Who wants to be with someone who's skin looks like leather ? It ages you big time! Today almost every child at the beach wears Rash Guards and I see more adults wearing them too.

Wow! We agree on something! Well said.

I don't think you would be as cavalier if you had listened to a dr. tell your husband he had 4 months to live with newly diagnosed melanoma. The disease has risen drastically among men and also young women who use tanning beds.

the title of this article makes no sense.

I respect your point of view, but I am a fair skinned Irish American and I spent summers down Revere Beach before we knew what the sun did. Now I have the pleasure of visiting the dermatologist twice yearly for my past sun exposure. This has been going on for over ten years. One of three things is sure to happen. On the rare occasion he tells me I'm good for another 6 months, not usually the case. Next and slightly less pleasant (depending on one's threshold for pain), he breaks out the liquid nitrogen. First time he used it he said it only stings a little, I would describe it as more of a burning sensation. Keep in mind that every part of my body no matter where it is has to be zapped if it is pre-cancerous. It feels more like being tazed to me. Then I have to wait for all of the scabs to fall off to reveal new scar tissue. I have had basil and squamous cell cancer, fortunately not melanoma yet. The least pleasant part is a newer technique called Mohs surgery. Here they cut the affected area after local anesthesia and just to be safe they have to cut more than where the cancer is to be sure they get it all. To stop the bleeding they use electric sensors to cotterize the area while the tissue is examined in the lab. The smell of my flesh burning trns me off, but that's what they do. You usually lay on a bed in the office with a gaping wound for about 45 minutes, bring a magazine. I was sitting in the office with a gaping wound in my face one day and for some reason the nurse thought I might like to see it so she placed a mirror in front of my face without my knowledge. When I looked up it almost caused me to vomit. I hope you get the picture. I have stopped counting after at least 100 stitches. I have been cut on the top of my head (stitches inside and out), my back, my leg, my face where they got 2 for the price of 1 by gashing me along the line where my nose meets the rest of my face. I have a 1 inch scar there at least. My favorite one is behind my ear where they had to remove a chunk of flesh so large they could not stitch me because it would have made me look as though my ear was attached to my head when it healed. That one was left open for around 6 weeks til it scabbed and healed. If you think it's worth it keep sunning, at one time I did too. Not any more. I really like my Dermatologist too, especially when he says you're OK see me in 6 months.

Why does Jennifer Graham still have a column? Instead of some timely or intelligent take on the relative dangers of slathering chemicals on your skin vs. too much UV vs. vitamin D deficiency, we are subjected to yet another inane attempt at joking about unfunny topics. This is the last Graham column I will read. 

This is an irresponsible and flip column of someone living in a fantasy world. I would suggest that the author try to make an appointment with a dermatologist and then see how long she has to wait because of the number of people with skin cancer. A little research on the topic might have enlightened her.