Soak Up Rays for a Healthier Bowel

Regular exposure to sunlight decreases the incidence of irritable bowel disease (IBD) in children, researchers from the Australian National University report. They compared 99 children with IBD with 396 healthy children using interviews with parents to establish a database. For every 10 minutes of sunlight exposure a day on average, there was a 6 percent reduction in risk, and 30 minutes a day reduced the risk by 20 percent. Also, children with deeper tans were at lower risk. IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, has been shown in previous studies to be less common among people that live in sunnier places and closer to the Equator.