[Dylan16807]

Doctors advising people to avoid sun exposure? Is that strawman based on anything?

I hope you don't mean the advice to use sunscreen when you're going to be outside so long you'd get sunburn without it.

[jerf]

How old are you?

I can assure you, whether it was the intent or not, that the message got out in the 1980s and 1990s that all sunlight exposure is uniformly bad and its only effect is to increase your likelihood of skin cancer, so everyone should avoid it and unconditionally use strong sunscreen for any exposure.

[radford-neal]

See https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/sun-safety/s... for one example of an official health authority advising people to zealously avoid sun exposure, with no mention whatever of vitamin D deficiency or other downsides of not getting any sun.