Should you take sunscreen or an umbrella to the beach?

WHAT’S the best kind of sun protection at the beach — an umbrella or sunscreen? Doctors at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York are hoping to find the answer in a trial involving 80 people. All the participants will stay in the sun on a beach for three-and-a-half hours. Half the group will apply SPF 100 sunscreen to seven areas of exposed skin — the face, upper chest, back of the neck, arms and legs — while the rest will sit under a beach umbrella. Doctors will then compare the patients’ skin for signs of sunburn over the following 24 hours.