Splish,Splash, I’m at a summer time bash! Grab your towel, cool rays, ice cold water, and don’t forget your sunscreen. With summer around the corner, that means hitting the lake, beach, or just hanging out with friends by the barbecue. This month’s edition will focus on outdoor activities, food safety, skin care, and other fun ideas.

Let’s start by protecting ourselves and our children from the harmful UV rays. Getting tanned by a tanning machine is like climbing inside a toaster. It’s HOT! Tanning machines can cause the same problem as being exposed to extended periods of sun. Tanning machines can cause cancer. And there’s nothing glamorous about wrinkles, leathery skin, or skin cancer.

Here are some Sun Safety rules found in the Skin Foundation website:

• Do not sunbathe.
• Avoid unnecessary sun exposure, especially between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., the peak hours for harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
• When outdoors, use sunscreens rated SPF 15 or higher. Apply them liberally, uniformly, and frequently.
• When exposed to sunlight, wear protective clothing such as long pants, long-sleeved shirts, broad-brimmed hats, and UV-protective sunglasses. Stay away from artificial tanning devices.
• Teach your children good sun protection habits at an early age: The damage that leads to adult skin cancers starts in childhood.
• Examine your skin head to toe at least once every three months.

DID YOU KNOW………

• The sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation can penetrate many types of clothes?
• It can also go through automobile and residential windows?
• It can damage your eyes, contributing to cataracts, macular degeneration, and eyelid cancers?
• When you're on snow or ice, your face and eyes are at almost twice the risk of UV damage because of reflected glare?

WHAT TO LOOK FOR…….

Be alert to irregularities in shape, edges, color, and size. The ABCD's of melanoma are as follows: Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Color variability, and Diameter larger than a pencil eraser.

Asymmetry

Most early melanomas are asymmetrical: a line through the middle would not create matching halves. Common moles are round and symmetrical.

Border

The borders of early melanomas are often uneven and may have scalloped or notched edges. Common moles have smoother, more even borders.

Color

Common moles usually are a single shade of brown. Varied shades of brown, tan, or black are often the first sign of melanoma. As melanomas progress, the colors red, white and blue may appear.

Diameter

Early melanomas tend to grow larger than common moles - generally to at least the size of a pencil eraser (about 6mm, or 1/4 inch, in diameter).

Have a fantastic summer and throw a bottle of sunscreen in your car for protection!

Lisa Rakoz
Health & Fitness Section Editor

PUT THE SHRIMP ON THE BARBIE

Barbecuing is popular year around, but people head to their backyards to fire up the grill in record numbers when the temperatures soar. Scrupulously following food safety guidelines is important at all times, but it becomes especially crucial during warm weather because escalating temperatures encourage bacteria and other pathogens to multiply and cause food borne illness. Here are some simple guidelines to help ensure safe grilling.

• When shopping for meat, fish and poultry, put them in your grocery cart last. Never buy a package that’s damaged or torn and check "sell-by" and "use-by" dates. Put packaged raw meat in plastic bags so leaking juices cannot cross contaminate other foods.
• Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator, never on the counter; allow sufficient defrosting time. Or immerse packaged food in cold water to thaw. If you’re in a hurry, thaw in the microwave just before grilling it.
• Hand washing is paramount. Wash your hands in hot soapy water before preparing food, after each time you touch raw meat, and after any interruptions such as using the bathroom, handling pets, stopping to do something with children.
• Keep raw meat, poultry and fish and their juices away from other food. That means thoroughly washing cutting boards, knives, platters, etc. before letting them come in contact with other foods you’re preparing or with cooked foods you’re about to serve.
• Sanitize cutting boards and countertops with chlorine bleach. Pour on small amount and let stand several minutes, rinse thoroughly and air dry or dry with clean paper towel. Soak sponges and dishcloths in hot soapy water to which you’ve added chlorine bleach.
• Marinate foods in the refrigerator, never on the counter. Boil any marinade to destroy bacteria if you plan to baste with it or serve it with the cooked meat. Never save marinades for a second use.
• Precook (chicken/ribs) immediately before grilling. Never let partially cooked food sit for more than a few minutes before tossing it on the grill to finish it.
• Refrigerate leftover food quickly (no more than two hours) and use within a couple of days.

SUPER SIZE ME

Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me" sure seems to have gotten Ronald McDonald's attention. Since the documentary earned an award for Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival, McDonald's has decided to phase out its supersized fries and drinks altogether---and has decided to launch "Go Active!" Happy Meals for adults that have one of several new premium salads, a bottle of water, and a step meter. (The "Go Active" meal officially debuts Thursday, May 6---the day before "Super Size Me" debuts this Friday.)

Spurlock's 30-day binge on McDonald's food isn't for the squeamish. But this funny and provocative film is sure to spark a new national debate about corporate responsibility and the fast-food industry's response to the obesity epidemic in America. For more on the film, visit its web site at ((((( SUPER SIZE ME ))))) A FILM OF EPIC PORTIONS .

AMERICAN RED CROSS

Each year, the American Red Cross responds immediately to more than 67,000 disasters nationwide, including house or apartment fires (the majority of disaster responses), hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials spills, transportation accidents, explosions, and other natural and man-made disasters.

What does the American Red Cross do in disasters?

• Emergency shelter, food, and mental health services to address basic human needs.
• Provides basic assistance, e.g., groceries, new clothing, temporary housing, medicines, emergency home repairs, transportation and basic household items.
• Helps with long-term recovery when other resources, i.e., insurance benefits and government assistance, are not available or are inadequate to meet disaster-caused needs.
• Serves as an information and referral source to help those affected obtain other resources
• Emergency communication between disaster victims and family members located outside the disaster area.

Here are some Home and Family Safety Tips to help you with your summer months. Included are boating, hiking, camping, life guarding, picnics, sport and water safety.

Kids Health helps parents, children, and professionals find answers to commonly asked health questions. Topics include the benefits of different types of vitamins, the food pyramid, healthy children's recipes, how to read food labels, and keeping fit. Children can also submit their own questions. Check out the "Childhood Infections" section under "Parents" for information about appendicitis, meningitis, mumps, and more.

PBS TeacherSource includes more than 2,000 free lesson plans, teachers guides, and activities, most of which are built around PBS television programming and are correlated to 200 sets of local, state, and national curriculum standards. Included here are a large number of health lesson ideas that you may want to consider for inclusion in your health curriculum.

The American Heart Association website Just Move provides important information on managing your weight, patient information on heart attack and strokes, nutrition, and much more. A site for the individual to receive information on eating plans for healthy Americans and strategic planning for physical activity.

"The Shape We're In," supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services, focuses a spotlight on America's obesity crisis. Each day of the series explores different aspects of the problem — nutrition and physical education in schools, the influence of community design, how the medical community is responding — and highlights innovative solutions.

CHECK YOUR HEART

Target Heart Rate (THR) is effective in measuring initial fitness level and monitoring progress after you begin a fitness program. This approach requires measuring your pulse periodically as you exercise and staying within 50 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. So, go out for a short walk or run and check your heart!

Why don't bananas like to sunbathe?
Because they have a tendency to peel!

What goes "Tick-tock, woof-woof"?
A watchdog

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says: "Does this taste funny to you?"

Check out Rick’s website for classroom curriculum to kick start your class.