Stylishly Protecting Kids From the Sun

Mona Gohara, being a dermatologist, might spend a little more time thinking about sun damage than the rest of us.

But Gohara, who is also the mother of two young children, does more than worry – she also educates and in the process has created a new line of clothing for youngsters that could help prevent sun-caused illness.

“Sun protection is really important to me,” Gohara said during a discussion in a Danbury waiting room of Advanced DermCare, a large practice that also has offices in Southbury and Ridgefield, where Gohara also sees patients. She recites studies that reveal skin melanoma is the most common cancer in the United States among women between 25 and 29.

As Gohara, who works full-time, points out, skin cancer is almost wholly preventable, starting with the conscientious use of sunscreen.

“Every day I am preaching to my mom patients – well, my dad patients, too, but most of them are moms -- to protect their kids,” Gohara, 35, said.

Here’s the problem parents of newborns face: kids younger than six months are only allowed to use sunscreen in limited amounts to exposed areas and standard T-shirts do not provide adequate protection from the sun’s cancer causing rays.

“When I had kids of my own I was really in a quandary,” said Gohara. “There was nothing to protect them.”

She was familiar with clothing for adults that because of its extremely tight knit blocks the sun’s rays. She could not find everyday sun protective T-shirts for kids, however.

So with her husband, she started k&j sunprotective clothing. It is named after her children, Kiran and Jai.

Gohara’s k&j T-shirts not only protect kids from the sun during everyday play, but they are also stylish.

“As a dermatologist and a mom, when I approached the shirt I tried to make it fashionable as well as functional,” Gohara said.

When you meet Gohara it is clear that she is smart, articulate, and quick to laugh. Dark hair frames a dark complexion, the result of heritage, not tanning. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Oberlin College, interned at New York University Medical Center and is an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale where she teaches medical students and sees patients. Among her volunteer work, she is chair of the Young Physicians’ Task Force of the Women’s Dermatologic Society and a founding member of the diversity task force of The Skin Cancer Foundation.

She is very busy.

A constant is her passion about skin protection.

She pointed to a survey of college-age women that showed of those who tan at salons, most went for the first time with their mothers.

“Those girls are five times more likely to be tanners and sun worshippers,” Gohara said with a hint of disbelief. “It’s like giving your kid a cigarette. Most people would look at that with disgust. Just like nicotine is a carcinogen, ultraviolet radiation is a carcinogen.

“The whole idea is to turn it around and make it a learned behavior,” Gohara said. “You don’t wait until your children are teenagers to teach them to brush their teeth. You start when they get teeth! Babies are born with skin and they need protection right away. We want to encourage kids to go out and play and encourage parents to inculcate the message of protecting themselves against ultraviolet rays.”

Kavitha Bindra, the mother of 17-month-old Sasha, said she likes k&j designs because they are "edgy."

"We get stopped all the time by people commenting on how fun the shirts are," Bindra said.

She added that she is aware of the potential for sun damage and thinks about it when she dresses.

"I consistently look for ways to shield both myself and Sasha from the sun, including using sunscreen and wide-brimmed hats," Bindra said. "What I especially love about k&j shirts is that they provide sun protection, but aren't made from cheap materials like a lot of sun-protective clothing."

A standard T-shirt does nothing to stop the sun’s radiation. A k&j T-shirt blocks the rays and is made of 100 percent chemical-free cotton. k&j shirts are offered in 11 designs and multiple colors. Sizes now range from zero to 24 months, and soon will go up to 6T.

Gohara said that when she started to put together the idea of selling sun-protective clothing for children, she asked questions at skin cancer foundations and soon found a manufacturer who made shirts for adults but worked with her to develop a line for children. k&j clothing is made in Los Angeles, with the designs printed in Groton, Conn. She stores nearly 2,000 shirts in her house.

And as summer approaches, Gohara hopes that more people will learn of k&j clothing.

“Everyone thinks dermatologists want you to live under a rock and I don’t,” Gohara said. “I just want to protect you. Extra care, education – it’s all congruent for me. It all kind of melds together.

“I’m making sure your family summer can be fun and active -- and cute.”