A little bit of sunshine could help prevent this bowel disease

That's according to new research to come out of the Australian National University on Thursday.

More than 800,000 people live with the two life-long disorders which make up inflammatory bowel disease - Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis.

The paediatric study was based in Melbourne and led by Professor Robyn Lucas, from the university's College of Health and Medicine.

Professor Lucas said there was already evidence to suggest sun exposure could have an effect on auto immune diseases like inflammatory bowel disease.

The study compared children younger than 18 who had developed the disease to a group of children who were essentially healthy.

Researchers found the children with the disease tended to have a lower sun exposure to those who did not have the disease.

Professor Lucas said the study needed to be replicated in other places, but it fitted in nicely with other research into auto immune diseases.

"Taking children to play outside in the sun could be life-changing," she said. "We found every 10 minutes of sun exposure was associated with a lower risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease by six per cent.

"At this stage what we have shown is there is a link between lack of sun exposure and increased risk of [inflammatory bowel disease].

"We already know that sunshine affects the immune system in ways that could decrease [inflammatory bowel disease] - but we don't know the exact pathways.

"But our research suggests that getting outside and into the sunshine is a good thing when it comes to preventing this terrible disease."

Research shows Australia has one of the highest rates of inflammatory bowel disease. "[The disease] is becoming more common and children are getting it at younger ages," Professor Lucas said.

"The symptoms can be awful. If you have [the disease] you get intermittent diarrhoea, abdominal pain, inflammation and you can feel very unwell.

"Crohn's and ulcerative colitis are horrible diseases where the autoimmune system has gone haywire and attacks the gut."

Professor Lucas says it is still important Australians remain "sun smart" and protect themselves and their children from any potential harmful effects from the sun.