When you're standing in the aisle of your local pharmacy or superstore shopping for sunscreens for your kids, you might be a little overwhelmed by the choices. There are numerous sun protection products for children on the market right now, in every consistency from thick cream to weightless "sport" sprays and ranging in price from economical to "I don't think so."

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All this variety may make you think back to your own childhood, when you most likely didn't apply sunscreen unless you were on the beach, and the products you had to choose from then were nothing like what's available to us today.

Over the last 20 years, we've learned more and more about the dangers of overexposure to the sun. While skin cancer is the biggest concern, it isn't the only one. The sun can damage the skin, causing discoloration, premature aging and other problems over time.

Despite its destructive abilities, the sun isn't really our enemy; it helps our bodies produce vitamin D, a nutrient that's essential to proper bone growth and development. Spending time in the sun may also help fight certain cancers, depression, and other health problems.

The key is just not to overdo it. Skin cancer is a very real risk, and being in the sun for long periods of time unprotected greatly increases the chances of developing this disease.