Sunbathing Could Harm Pregnant Women

Norwegian researchers probed the effect of ultraviolet (UV) radiation during the high sunlight years when there is maximum solar activity, having an effect across generations of people.

On an average, the lives of children who were born during times of solar activity was 5.2 years shorter than others. Death during the first two years of life is very high, said researchers, according to medinida.net.

"There are probably many factors that come into play but we have measured a long-term effect over generations. The conclusion is that you should not sunbathe if you are pregnant and want to have a lot of grandchildren," said lead author Gine Roll Skjaervoe from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

The scientist Skjaervoe conducted the study on some church records. His team studied 9,000 people from 1750 to 1900. They then based their theories on the number of sunspots that showed the amount of UV radiation in any year,

After 11 years, the sunspots peak, casting their UV radiation on Earth when there is high sunspot and solar activity. Due to UV radiation, folate levels during pregnancy also come down, which will increase the rate of child mortality, even though it can have positive effects on human vitamin D levels. Folate is responsible in preventing "abnormal development of the spinal cord and brain" in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Pregnancy shoots up the hormone levels and makes the skin more sensitive. When the UV rays burn the skin there may be chances of developing cancer, according to babymed.com.

Hence, the recommendation is that pregnant women should take folic acid supplements in the early stage, according to askbaby.com.

The effect of the UV radiation was found to be maximum on women in the lower rungs of the socio-economic sections. Mostly women involved in agricultural activities were subjected to the highest exposure to the sun compared to other women. They were also exposed to weak nutrition and poor diet.