What to know
You can enjoy being outside and lower your skin cancer risk by making sun protection a habit.
Physical and mental health
Spending time outdoors can improve overall health and wellness. The outdoors offers many opportunities to be physically active. Time outdoors may also promote mental health and lower stress.
When you're outside, you can lower your skin cancer risk from too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays. You can protect yourself by staying in the shade, wearing protective clothing, and using sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher. Be sure to reapply sunscreen at least every 2 hours or more often if you are swimming or sweating.
Communities can help by providing shade in outdoor public spaces. Schools can add shade to school grounds and employers can provide sun protection where people gather outside.
Vitamin D
The sun's rays can cause your skin to make vitamin D. Getting too little sunlight may put you at risk for low levels of vitamin D. Too much UV exposure can raise your risk of skin cancer. The amount of vitamin D your skin makes when you are in the sun depends on many factors, including your skin tone, geographic location, weather conditions, time of year, and time of day.
Your skin can make only a limited amount of vitamin D at one time. When your body has reached its limit, spending more time in the sun will not increase your vitamin D level, but it will increase your skin cancer risk.
You can get vitamin D safely in food and supplements (pills) without raising your chance of getting skin cancer. Food sources of vitamin D include some types of fish; foods with added vitamin D, such as some cereals; juices; dairy products; and egg yolks.
More information
Physical activity
Vitamin D
- Vitamin D Fact Sheet for Health Professionals (National Institutes of Health)
- Vitamin D (MedlinePlus)
- Vitamin D and Cancer (National Cancer Institute)