Sun bed dangers
A lesson in sun protection
If you read my blog regularly, then you will know how important I find protecting your skin against the sun. Too much sun causes not only wrinkles, pigmentation and sagging skin, but also skin cancer. Now, more people in the Netherlands are dying from skin cancer than road traffic accidents. Moreover, the number of people with skin cancer has increased dramatically! Protecting yourself in the sun from its dangers is always necessary, but especially in childhood when sun damage can cause an awful lot of harm. So isn’t it strange that our children receive lessons in “road safety”, but actually learn very little about the dangers of the sun. For example, did you know that if your child is badly sunburnt once, the chances of them getting melanoma (the most dangerous form of skin cancer) is increased by 50%? Using sun beds can also do an awful lot of damage. Regular use of a sun bed under the age of 35 increases the risk of skin cancer by up to 75%! It’s not for nothing that sun beds are banned in Brazil and some states in Australia…
Read and prepare to be shocked
Sun bed studios are out of bounds for under 18 year olds in the Netherlands, because of the dangers. Nevertheless, a couple of days ago, I read to my horror that many sun bed studios are flouting this rule… A quarter of the sun bed studios allow kids under the age of 18 in and are thereby violating the law. Vara kassa magazine, the magazine connected with the television programme ‘KASSA’, phoned 32 studios affiliated to the Association of Samenwerking Verantwoord Zonnen (SVZ) in various cities, to ask if they could buy a block of 10 sun bed sessions for their 16 year old nieces Birthday. Although the Association prides itself on its enforcement of the rules, 1 in 8 of the studios was at fault. ‘KASSA’ also phoned eighteen randomly chosen businesses. Half of these had no problem with the Birthday present. Then ‘KASSA’ asked two 14 year old friends to visit a number of sun bed studios in a medium size town. Four out of the six studios let them in. You can read the whole article here (Dutch). Read and be shocked…
About time
It is these girls in their teenage tears who are easily influenced when it comes to a “lovely brown tan”. I don’t have any figures for the Netherlands, but according to a survey carried out in America, Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance System, 29% of white “high school” girls use sun beds. That’s why it is also so necessary that children start learning at a young age how important it is to protect themselves against the sun. In Australia this has been properly addressed with a Sunsmart-Education Programme; teaching materials have been developed, large bottles of sun cream are available in the schools and almost no-one goes in the sun without smearing it on, a hat and long sleeves. I’ll be leaving for Australia in a couple of days to talk with people from the Cancer Foundation and to visit schools and nurseries to see how they have implemented this. Because what they can do Down Under, we can do too!
And this is how it is done in Australia, simply available by the bus shelters….
But more is needed. Apart from education it is also of essential importance that large businesses and advertisers start setting an example. A few months ago there was a big commotion surrounding the H&M campaign which used an extremely tanned model. I have given my view on this in the RTL Boulevard programme below. I am very interested to hear your views/ideas on this topic.
Regards Jetske
(Dr. Jetske Ultee-Research Physician Cosmetic Dermatology)
