Sunlight: why it’s important for your son’s growth

Does the sun help children grow? When my son was about 9 months old we took him to Cornwall for one weekend in the summer. On day 1, my wife brought him outside in a full body suit and a hat that covered most of his face let alone his head. The body parts even slightly uncovered- hands, feet, face- were white with sun cream as thick as treacle.

I couldn’t believe that we’d brought him on holiday to not get any benefit from the brief window of sun Brits get every year. My wife didn’t understand. So I did some research to understand: does the sun help children grow?

Sunlight helps children grow due to vitamin D promoting the development of the skeleton, the brain and the immune system. Sunlight sets your body clock, allowing you to feel awake and focused in the day while improving sleep at night- essential for proper growth.

Table of Contents

Does the sun help children grow? The importance of sunlight
Who needs more sunlight?
The importance of Vitamin D
Benefits of Vitamin D
Morning Sunlight
- Read here to learn more about earthing and why you and your son need to do it
- Lumie Sunrise Alarm Clock
Sunlight: how much is too much?
- So what’s the answer?
Summary

Does the sun help children grow? The importance of sunlight

None of us would be here without that big orange ball in the sky. It’s no wonder it’s been worshiped by humans as far back as we can imagine. Where I live in the UK, and all over the world, there are constant reminders of our ancestors’ obsession with the sun in things like stone circles and burial sites that are aligned with it at various times of the year. Modern living has caused us to lose some of our fascination with the sun, now that we can stay inside, warm and illuminated at all hours of the day and night. And with the rise in technology and many changes in industries, a lot of us are spending more time indoors than ever. So what’s the need for us to break out of the cycle of home-car-work-car-home?

Who needs more sunlight?

Everyone needs it to grow and develop properly. But there are some at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency that need to either actively ensure they get more sunlight, or increase dietary vitamin D through foods or supplementation. Risk factors include

Sedentary or house-bound people that don’t often go outdoors
Those living in Europe; Asian countries north of Iran, Pakistan, South Korea etc; and the parts of North America north of Kansas -especially if they have dark skin.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women
Teenagers
Children under 5
Obese people and those with a poor diet
People on certain medication- notably cholesterol lowering and weight loss medication

The importance of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin we get from many animal products that helps the body retain calcium needed for our bone health(1), among other things. Though our diet only accounts for 10-50% of intake while the majority, we get from the sun. The body can absorb UV-B radiation from sunlight through a compound in the skin and then convert it through a series of steps into vitamin D(2).

Globally, vitamin D deficiency is most common in children. The deficiency can take a while to show symptoms, so pregnant mothers can suffer without knowing. A baby with a deficient mother can feel the effects themself and are at risk, both in the womb and from drinking breast milk that lacks the vitamin. Therefore, it is important that pregnant women are assessed for low vitamin D levels(3).

To be extra safe, as well as getting enough sunshine, ensure your son’s mother eats high vitamin D foods such as grass-fed meat and organs, pasture-raised eggs and oily fish- especially if she has dark skin, spends lots of time indoors, or lives in a more temperate climate.

Benefits of Vitamin D

The benefits of having sufficient vitamin D levels include:

Proper statural growth
Increased immune function
Greater cognitive development

Proper Growth

Due to the lack of calcium- as well as phosphorus- vitamin D deficiency may cause problems with bone mineralisation during childhood . A severe deficiency may cause rickets, which is clinically expressed by bone deformity and poor growth- especially regarding the spine, pelvis and lower limbs(4).

Increased Immune Function

As well as its necessity for the skeleton, vitamin D has been associated with boosting the innate immune system- which prevents infection- and the adaptive immune system- for autoimmunity(5).

In one study, those with the highest levels of vitamin D had 44% less risk of getting type-1 diabetes in adulthood compared to those with the lowest. More common illnesses like flu can also be mitigated: rates in people that were given vitamin D suppleements were 40% lower than for the group taking a placebo. There is also current evidence that associates low levels with multiple sclerosis (MS). It suggests that 40% of MS cases could be prevented by ensuring adequate vitamin D levels(6).

Greater Cognitive Development

Brain development starts early! Before even being born- as well as in early stages of life- adequate vitamin D levels are essential for “normal receptor transcriptional activity” which is needed for mental functioning and cognitive development. After your son’s born, and begins to spend all of his time learning, he will need vitamin D to improve things like motor control, memory, learning skills and even social behaviour.

As he grows older and approaches adolescence, its important for you to understand that deficiencies are frequently seen in teenagers with severe mental illness. It’s effect on mood is apparent in the associations made between low vitamin D levels and conditions like depression and seasonal affective disorder(7). Also, while it may not be at the forefront of your mind at a young age, it’s worth noting that patients with low vitamin D levels have been seen to have a 54% greater risk of dementia(8).

Morning Sunlight

I’m writing this in the depths of a UK winter. It’s cold and wet. But worst of all, when I leave for work and when I finish, it’s dark. One of the most refreshing things about spring is when it starts to get lighter, and I can walk out into the garden in the early morning sunshine. Think back to when we were hunters. We woke and slept based on the sun, so it makes sense that morning sunshine should tell our body that it’s time to get up.

Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist and associate professor at the Stanford University school of Medicine. In his opinion, one of the most important things you can do for mental and physical health- for yourself and your son- is to get morning sunshine into your eyes.

It sounds strange, obviously staring at the sun isn’t a good idea. But I definitely recommend trying it. I make sure that every morning I’m with my son, I take him out in the garden as the sun’s light reaches it, whether it’s cloudy and raining or not.

We both walk onto the lawn in bare feet to get a further boost from nature through earthing.

Read here to learn more about earthing and why you and your son need to do it

It doesn’t have to be crazily early either: 2- 10 minutes before 10am is fine- which is difficult at mine during these short days when the sun hits my grass at 0950.

One reason for getting this light in your son’s eyes first thing is that it triggers a dose of cortisol, which signals your body that it’s time to wake up. This increases energy and focus throughout the day. It also sets your natural body clock so that your body understands it’s morning and so triggers the release of melatonin ready for when its time to sleep. So you’ll both me more awake in the day, and get a better nights sleep as well as promoting positive hormone function and better mental health.

And before you look out the window and decide that it’s too wet and windy to get out and that you’ll just sit near the window, it’s no good. The glass filters out a lot of the blue light that we need to stimulate wakefulness. So, get up, keep your shoes off and take your son into nature and watch the sunrise. Once you start, you won’t be able to stop(9).

Lumie Sunrise Alarm Clock

Waking up to a blaring alarm is no good. Talk about a boost of cortisol! Instead of jerking awake, already stressed, why not rise more akin to your biology.

It’s not a replacement for getting outside to see the real sun, but it will help you get to that point without the anxiety caused by a phone going off next to your head when you’re in deep sleep. “Lumie Sunrise Alarm Clocks” gradually increase light for the half hour before you set the alarm, so it feels like waking up to a sunrise every morning.

I travel a lot and make sure that I take mine wherever I go, so no matter how little sleep I get, it gives me the best chance of waking up energised. The amazon link is below- I do get a bit of commission if you buy through it, but I highly recommend it to boost your morning routine.

Sunlight: how much is too much?

Going back to my wife on holiday covering my son head to toe. The dangers of sun exposure are advertised much more than the benefits, and so most advice states to keep children out of the sun and wrap them up and slather them in suncream if they absolutely need to go in. This is all to protect their skin from damage that can cause melanoma and, I think the primary reason, the sunburn that causes pain.

A mother’s guilt over her child being burnt and sore, and the negative connections associated though uneducated parenting advice, are distressing enough to scare them away from the sun. But that sunburn is the body’s reaction to warn your child that they have spent too long in the sun. Without it they could stay out in the sun, not feel any pain but receive the damage caused by obver-exposure.

The campaign to increase the suncream use and keep them in the shade was designed to reduce skin cancer. However, since then, melanoma rates have increased(10). This may be because, while the vast majority of sun creams block UV-B rays that cause the burn, they are less effective against UV-A and UV-C radiation. The latter two penetrate deeper into the skin and cause damage to DNA which leads to melanoma.

So what’s the answer?

The answer is to find the sweet spot. Enough sun exposure to receive the benefits, but reduced enough to prevent damage. Instead of covering them up in clothes and sun cream, regular but brief exposure to sunshine will give the best of both worlds. It’s worth noting that if your son has darker skin and lives in Northern Europe, Asia or America then they need longer exposure to get the benefits, and can last longer before any damage.