20 ways to have a healthier summer: we know what you ate last summer — and drank — and all the other risky things you did. This year, keep safe and fit with these tips

Shape, July, 2002 by Ron Geraci

9 wear the coolest gear

If your old safety gear makes you sweat, go shopping -- the new stuff is amazingly light. When you skate, always wear wrist and knee guards, and check your wheels. Pop out the bearings using a skate tool and wipe them clean with a rag. Spin the wheels. Good bearings will roll smoothly, not stick, says Kalinda Mathis, executive director of the Inline Skating Association. Then make sure the "wear line" on the brake pad is still visible. If your skates are suspect, have them serviced at a skate shop.

SKIN AND DIPPING

10. Don't go in the Jacuzzi unless ... you smell chlorine. That's one sign it's clean, says Chuck Gerba, Ph.D., noted germ expert at the University of Arizona. Another test: "Dunk a plastic cup in and make sure the water is completely clear," Gerba says. "If it looks cloudy, stay out." Otherwise you'll court the pseudomonas bacteria, which causes red spots on your legs and butt. "This is common in women, as tight bathing suits keep the water closer to the skin for a longer period," Gerba says.

11. Sport natural toenails at least one day a week. Keeping your toenails continually polished stops them from "breathing," which makes them more susceptible to ugly fungal infections, says David Alper, D.P.M., president of the Massachusetts Podiatry Society. Also, to avoid picking up a fungus, wear flip-flops when you're walking around the pool (those puddles harbor bacteria) and, after swimming, swab your feet with alcohol-soaked cotton balls before getting dressed.

12 don't reduce your SPF as your tan darkens

"A suntan offers some protection against the ultraviolet-B rays that cause sunburn and skin cancer, but not against the UV-A radiation that causes wrinkling," says Brett Coldiron, M.D., a dermatologist in Cincinnati. A study review he led found that people who tan quickly are at high risk for malignant melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer. In contrast, your pale sister who sporadically fries herself is at greater risk for basal cell carcinoma, the milder form. "Chronic mild exposure is still the biggest risk," Coldiron says. The best advice, he says: Don't tan at all.

THOSE HOT SUMMER NIGHTS

13. Have fun at the beach house -- just stay out of the drinking game. "It's not fair to women," says David Craig, Ph.D., co-director of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Alcohol Education Project. Even if you drink less than the men, you'll get drunk faster -- and that could lead you to do something stupid with someone stupid. "You have several biological disadvantages," Craig says. First, you're smaller and have far less water in your body to absorb the alcohol. Even more cruelly, men carry an alcohol-metabolizing enzyme (alcohol dehydrogenase) in their stomach that you largely lack. So, pound-for-pound, pounding will get you blitzed much quicker than the guys. Craig's tip: If you're drinking alcohol, stick with beer (it has the lowest alcohol by volume) and don't exceed one an hour.

14. Don't get risky. The sweaty summer weather makes you unconsciously more willing to take sexual risks. "Hot, steamy climates make for hotter, steamier people," says sexologist Patti Britton, Ph.D., author of Adventures of Her in France (Leopard Rising, 2001). "Wearing fewer clothes makes us literally more open, and the hot environment stimulates the sharing of our flesh." Unsafe sex is a far more prevalent risk than many would imagine; one survey found that more than one in four women admit they've allowed an occasional sex partner to forgo a condom -- risking HIV, herpes or other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) -- not to mention pregnancy in many cases. A study at the University of New Orleans identified the three most common ploys that men and -- more surprisingly -- women used or were suckered by to have unsafe sex. The first was one party asking to go "au naturel" for sensation's sake. The second biggest con was swearing that pregnancy was impossible as long as the male pulled out (and men weren't the only ones who used this line!). Third was the solemn, before-God proclamation to be STD-free, omitting the fact that most people with STDs have no clue they're infected. Be smart: Carry condoms yourself, and don't entertain any sales pitches to go "au naturel."