Only 25% of children wear sunscreen regularly

beach, boy, sunburn, istockphoto, 4x3 / istockphoto

"Slip! Slop! Slap! and Wrap" may be losing its grip.

Despite numerous efforts to encourage people to wear sunscreen, a new study shows only 1 in 4 children regularly uses sunscreen.

Researchers say more than half of the children in the study also reported having a sunburn in the previous summer.

Experts say those results are troubling.

"The problem is if you sunburn in childhood, you raise your risk of developing skin cancer later on," says Sophie J. Balk, MD, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City.

A recent study showed that children who have a sunburn at an early age are nearly twice as likely to develop melanoma in adulthood. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and is responsible for nearly 9,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

Exposure to ultraviolet light radiation from the sun or tanning beds is the biggest modifiable risk factor for melanoma.

Sunscreen Use Fading

In the study, researchers surveyed 360 fifth graders about their sunscreen use and sun exposure habits in 2004 at about age 11 and again three years later in 2007.

The results showed that half of the children reported routinely wearing sunscreen in 2004, but only 25% did so in 2007.

In addition, more than half of the children said they had sunburns in both the summer of 2004 and 2007.

Researchers say the results show that the time between ages 11 and 14 is a critical time in developing attitudes about tanning and wearing sunscreen, especially among girls.

For example, girls were more than twice as likely to report liking a tan at age 14 than at age 11. They were also much more likely to say they spent time out in the sun in the previous summer.

By the time boys and girls in the study were 14, they were 60%-70% less likely to say they "often or always" wore sunscreen when at the beach or pool last summer than when they were 11.

"Of most concern, it appears that groups at highest risk of skin cancer, very fair/fair children and those who obtained tans, were more likely to increase their sunburns during this crucial period," researcher Stephen Dusza, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues write in Pediatrics.

More Sun Protection Needed

"The next step is to learn how to best promote sun protection in pediatric offices and community settings such as beaches, after-school sites, and sporting events," Dusza says in a news release. "This is especially true for adolescents who are developing tan-promoting behaviors."

Balk says wearing sunscreen should be just one part of a total skin cancer prevention program for teens. Other ways to protect skin from the damaging effects of the sun include:

"Parents should understand that a tan is a sign of a problem and set an example for their kids by getting into the habit of sun protection so hopefully it becomes a lifelong habit for their children," Balk tells WebMD.

By Jennifer Warner

Reviewed by Hansa D. Bhargava, MD

SOURCES:Dusza, S. Pediatrics, February 2012. News release, American Academy of Pediatrics. News release, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.Sophie J. Balk, MD, attending pediatrician, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, New York City.

[CarolynTessier]

I would like to say as a parent of a 11 year old and 4 year old boys, that I will not put typical sunscreens on my child because I now have the facts about the chemicals included in them. Sunscreen must be made of all natural ingredients for me to even consider it. Oxybenzone has been known to kill coral, and change the gender in fish. Can you imagine what it is doing to my children?? The thought meakes me sick. As for keeping my children indoors from 10am-4pm, that is ridiculous. I am a responsible parent, and will not allow my children to BURN. We evolved being exposed to sunlight, and I intend for my children to grow and be healthy!!

[DougMcNabb]

Sunscreen sales have increased almost at exactly the same rate as melanoma. This graph says it all. It was part of a presentation by Dr. Ed Gorham, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Moores Cancer Center
University of California, San Diego. It shows a strong correlation between reported melanoma incidence and increased sunscreen sales:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/rise%20in%20sunscreen%20sales%20plotted%20against%20rise%20in%20melanoma%20incidence/tedhutchinson/sunscreenmelanomaincidencesunscreen.jpg?o=1

This NY Times article exposes the American Cancer Society stretching the truth to scare us into over-using sunscreens, driving sales to groups that pay ACS to develop over-the-top sun scare campaigns:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/health/10skin.html <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/health/10skin.html>

Sunscreen companies are not legally permitted to promote that their products prevent skin cancer &#8212; only that sunscreen prevents sunburn. So organizations like the Skin Cancer Foundation have been created (and funded by the sunscreen companies) to say it for them.

Check out this link to Skin Cancer Foundation's "Corporate Council". No coincidence that sunscreen companies are heavily involved in directing organizations that tell us to over-use sunscreen 24/7, even on cloudy days in the winter!

http://www.skincancer.org/Corporate-Council.html

[MaxK341]

The human race has been exposed to the sun for thousands of years with no consequence. When people get sun-burned it is because they are not getting anti-oxidents from their diet. The recommended sunscreens are toxic chemicals that CAUSE cancer.