Teens Tan Despite Knowing Risks

Majority Say People Look Better With Tans And Continue To Seek Sun

(CBS/AP)  "We try to teach a lesson of moderation, and hopefully, by finding a middle ground, young people will be able to protect themselves against the lifelong effects of the sun," Leffell said.

The findings are disappointing, especially considering that 1 in 5 Americans will at some point develop skin cancer, or more than 1 million people yearly, Dr. Darrell Rigel, a New York University dermatology professor involved in the survey research, said. Those cases include about 60,000 people diagnosed annually with melanoma, a potentially deadly form of skin cancer that kills more than 7,000 Americans each year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Worldwide, between 2 million and 3 million skin cancer cases are diagnosed each year, according to the World Health Organization. Incidence is rising in part because of excessive, unprotected sun exposure and depletion of the ozone layer, which protects the Earth from some of the sun's damaging ultraviolet radiation, WHO says.

"The damaged caused by the sun accumulates like compound interest in the skin, and over a lifetime it will manifest as skin cancer and potentially even melanoma," said Leffell.