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Jana Kramer has a controversial take: She doesn’t always put sunscreen on her children!
The One Tree Hill alum made the confession when she sat down with her friend Kathryn Woodard on a new episode of her Whine Down podcast on Monday. Kathryn told Jana about how her teens are obsessed with tanning. Like any concerned parent, she wants her kids to wear sunscreen to protect them from the sun’s harmful rays and asked her pal for advice on how to get them to use it.
Well, Jana didn’t have any solutions! And that’s because the actress shockingly revealed she doesn’t force her kids to wear sunscreen! She began:
“Time out really fast. Let me just go back because I’m gonna get a lot of hate on this. I am well aware that I should have worn sunscreen as a child. I am well aware. And I know my mom put on the Coppertone Baby, whatever SPF on me. Having said that, my mother was the generation who used no sunscreen and used the baby oil, right? If my mother gave me anything more than an 8 SPF, I would be like, ‘I cannot get a tan with anything less than 8.’”
Wait, wait?! She knows she should have worn sunscreen as a kid… yet doesn’t put it on her own children now?!
Related: Jana Kramer Says She Only Sold Vibrators To Pay For Child Support!
Jana revealed she often used the tanning oil with 8 SPF and never got burned until a trip to Puerto Rico with her One Tree Hill castmates. She then started to use sunscreen more in her 30s because her skin changed. But when it comes to her kids? Unless they will be out in the sun for a really long period of time, she doesn’t put it on them! The country singer said:
“I don’t use sunscreen on my kids unless it’s going to be for hours outside because I know they don’t burn. And there’s so much bad stuff in sunscreen that if we’re not going to be out there for more than a couple hours, listen, come at me. But I’m just not putting it on. I will if we’re on the beach for hours and the reflection of all the things, like I’ll put it on his neck, his ears — the baby — but like the kids, I haven’t put on any on them because I’m like, they’re not getting burned. What’s worse, the burn, or the suntan lotion?”
We bet people will come at her because there is just so much wrong with this take… Just like Kristin Cavallari, Jana is spreading misinformation about sunscreen! Let’s start with her comment about how “there’s so much bad stuff in sunscreen.” Experts would disagree! Sunscreen is not toxic to people, as Jana appears to suggest! If it was they wouldn’t sell it to put on children! Come on!
This is apparently a more common misconception these days. So much that experts are having to tackle it constantly to try to keep kids safe! Dr. Raman Madan, Director of Cosmetic Dermatology at Northwell Health, explained to People back in June:
“There’s been a lot of negative [reports] towards sunscreen out there, and it kind of stems from different reasons. One of them is that people say that sunscreen can be absorbed into the bloodstream.”
He noted that “it’s a small, small, small amount” with some chemical sunscreens — nothing to be worried about. And even if that’s still a concern for you, there are other equally effective alternatives out there. Dr. Madan pointed out that people can wear mineral-based sunscreens like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, and “those won’t be absorbed by your body.”
As for the environmental concerns about sunscreen use, while some “can harm coral reefs in some locations like in Hawaii and parts of Mexico,” the physician said that “if you’re wearing the mineral-based zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, this is reef-safe, so it will be a non-issue again.” He then added:
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there, and I think people are just trying to find reasons not to wear sunscreen.”
And we cannot stress the importance of wearing sunscreen enough. After all, skin cancer is a very real concern. Per the American Cancer Society, skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, and one of the best ways to help lower the risk of getting it is to wear sunscreen daily! It actually doesn’t matter if you don’t have the type of skin to burn or if it’s cloudy outside, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association:
“You should apply sunscreen every day on skin not covered by clothing if you will be outside. The sun emits harmful UV rays year-round. Even on cloudy days, up to 80% of the sun’s harmful UV rays can penetrate the clouds.”
So to answer Jana’s question, the sun. The sun is worse for you.
With all that in mind, our suggestion? Please listen to the experts, not Jana. Get your kids to wear sunscreen. That’s us coming at her, we guess. What are your reactions? Sound OFF in the comments!
[Image via Jana Kramer/Instagram]
