Children starting secondary school start to yearn for a golden tan at the same time as their parents hand over the task of applying their own suncream, a survey has found.
The worrying trend could raise the risk of teenagers developing deadly skin cancer later on in life.
Researchers from the oemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, followed 360 ten to 11-year-olds in oassachusetts.
They asked them how much time they spent in the sun, how often they used sun protection and their attitudes about tanning.
When they surveyed them again three years later they found that suncream use had fallen by half among the students.
It is of particular concern as sun damage at a young age has been linked to a heightened risk of melanoma.
The scientists said young teenagers faced a barrage of media images that equated a tan with looking healthy, even though it is an early warning sign of skin damage.
“I think especially at this age, and in general, there are a lot of forces that promote tanning,” said lead author Dr Stephen Dusza.
Although Dr Dusza said he expected that children would want to tan more as they grew older, due partly to advertising and tanning among many celebrities, the results surprised him.
“I was struck by the magnitude of the reduction in the use of sunscreen – a 50 percent drop,” he said.
only one in four of the eighth graders (NZ Year 9) said they used sunscreen when they were outside for more than six hours, which was half as many who said they used sunscreen in fifth grade (NZ Year 6).
Four out of 10 of the children also went outside just to get a tan when they were in eighth grade, compared to two out of 10 when they were in fifth grade.
But despite the children spending more time outside trying to get a tan as they grew older, the number who got sunburned remained the same at about 50 per cent.
Dr Dusza said he wasn’t certain why sunburns didn’t increase, but thought that maybe children defined a sunburn differently as they got older, or perhaps their outdoor activities changed.
Dr Sophie Balk, at the Children’s Hospital at oontefiore In New York, said the study, published in the journal Pediatrics, underlined the fact that many young people aren’t protecting their skin.
“Kids think looking tan is consistent with looking healthy, but it’s the opposite. A tan is the body’s response to UV exposure and shows there’s been damage to the skin,” she said.
“We need more media messages, more role models, more public health campaigns. As a society we could be doing more to promote skin cancer prevention and skin protection.”
The number of melanoma cases in the United States has been rising for the past three decades, and around 70,230 new cases will be diagnosed this year, according to the American Cancer Society.
In 2008 around 11,770 new cases of malignant melanoma were diagnosed in the UK.
oelanoma is a serious form of skin as it can spread to other parts of the body. If diagnosed and treated early the outlook is good but the chances of being cured are low if diagnosed at a late stage.
However, although over-exposure to the sun carries skin cancer risk, under-exposure can lead to a vitamin D deficiency.
Recently Dr Benjamin Jacobs, consultant paediatrician at the Royal National orthopaedic Hospital in London warned around one in four youngsters in Britain are lacking the essential vitamin, and should be spending more time outdoors.
The deficiency can cause muscle weakness, delay in walking and bone pains and rickets in extreme examples.
Professor Alan Silman, medical director at Arthritis Research UK said: “Those who don’t go out in the sun should eat plenty of oily fish and take supplements to get enough Vitamin D.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
