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Kids' swimwear protects against sun's harmful rays

 Swimwear Fabric the age when girls play with Barbie, there's nothing about the doll's body that theirs could ever resemble—except in 1978, when Malibu Sun Lovin' Barbie hit the scene. She had pronounced tan lines, and those were achievable.Not that tykes still layered in baby fat care about looking like Barbie and Ken, but kids who spent summers splashing around in inflatable back-yard pools or running through sprinklers tended to get sunburns that gradually faded into tans widely regarded as "healthy"—bronzed skin was a sign of youthful vigor. Parents, unaware of the long-term dangers of too much sun exposure, dressed girls in two-piece swimsuits, and boys swam bare-chested beneath the blazing sun. Times have changed, and so has children's swimwear.Research has shown that one blistering sunburn in childhood can double a person's risk of developing serious forms of skin cancer later in life, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Ninety percent or more of all skin cancers result from excessive exposure to sunlight.That means Barbie won't be sporting a tan anytime soon. More important, it means that children's swimsuits now go the extra inch to reduce exposure to ultraviolet rays."Kids want to be outside playing in the sun, but parents feel guilty if they get sunburned," says Michele Casper, a spokesperson for Lands' End, which sells long-sleeved swim garments for neck-to-wrist protection through its catalog and at Sears.Department stores such as Kohl's and Nordstrom also are offering lines of swimwear this season that provide more coverage. Across the board, boys' swim trunks have gotten longer. Knee-length pairs aren't uncommon. Girls' suits by makers such as ZeroXposur and Malibu Dream Girl, both sold at Kohl's, feature miniskirts that are similar, in some cases, to those worn by cheerleaders. Also in fashion are girls' suits consisting of tank tops and shorts.The SunBusters line of swimwear, available at Nordstrom, features girls' and boys' one-piece suits that zip up the front like wetsuits and provide upper arm and thigh coverage. "As awareness grows, I think we'll be seeing a lot more girls and boys in this type of swimwear," says Melissa Papock, a skin cancer survivor who founded Cabana Life, a clothing line made from fabric with a 50+ SPF rating. "I don't think we'll be seeing the return of the itty-bitty bikini anytime soon." Offered by many designers, UV-protective swimwear is cut from tightly woven fabric that blocks the sun's rays. Sometimes, a chemical treatment is applied, most often to lighter-colored fabrics, to boost sun blockage. "Last season, for the first time, all of our children's suits had 50+ UV protection, and we're doing the same thing this year, too," says Casper of Lands' End. "This is a trend that's here to stay."In fact, the trend has spawned a number of small swimwear companies with a shared mission—to protect children from short- and long-term sun damage.Using sunscreen is not sufficient, says Rhonda Sparks, who founded the UV Skinz protective swim-shirt company after the death of her husband, whose terminal skin cancer traced back to excessive sun exposure when he was a child. "People have a sense of overprotection with sunscreen, but they miss spots or forget to reapply," she says. "So our whole goal is to get as much skin covered as possible."To that end, many lines of swimwear offer color-coordinated hats, cover-ups and beach towels, which wet, goose-pimpled children tend to drape around their shoulders. But sun-protective swimsuits can't deflect harmful beams if kids refuse to wear them, so surfer-inspired patterns such as hibiscus for girls and camouflage for boys are used to appeal to their sense of fashion and concerns about fitting in."For kids, there has to be that cute factor or that cool factor so they don't mind gearing up for the beach," Casper says. "At the same time, parents want assurance that their kids are being protected."