Aim:

To evaluate the characteristics of the knowledge and sun protection habits of children.

Study:

Descriptive and analytic cross-sectional study.

Place:

In outpatient, our pediatric emergency department, hospital-level II, and in the child health consultation of a local USF.

Population:

Children under the age of 18 years and their caregivers who attended the units mentioned.

Methods:

Application of a questionnaire on knowledge and habits concerning sun protection, voluntary and confidential answer. Statistical data were processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences - SPSS® program. Statistical significance was considered for p-values <0.05.

Results:

Sample totaled 295, 63.7% caregivers of children under nine years and 36.3% adolescents between 10 to 17 years. The period of the day of greatest exposure to sunlight was before 11:00 am and after 4:00 pm (77%). They use sunscreen, 93% of adolescents and 90.6% of children, however, the majority of the population only use it on the beach (61%) (p<0.05). As for the frequency of renewal of sunscreen, 40.2% of the adolescents renewed two times and 52.6% of the children only once (p<0.05). It is the female who responds to use more umbrella (76.2%) (p<0.05) and more girls use sun protection factor (SPF) 30 (59%) and 50+ (73.7%) while more boys use SPF <15 (76.9%) (p<0.05). Most of those included in the study showed to acquire more information/knowledge about sun protection through the media (46.8%).

Conclusion:

The present study’s data demonstrated inadequate sun protection habits, results in line with other studies. It warns of the need for wider dissemination of adequate knowledge that consolidates healthy practices in relation to sun exposure. The multidisciplinarity between primary health care and Pediatrician becomes crucial.

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