ACS sun exposure survey
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Majority of youth surveyed - 72.2% - report experiencing at least one sunburn between July and October 1998, according to an abstract released June 18 by the American Cancer Society. The study, by Kourtney Johnston Davis, PhD, American Cancer Society, et al., is based on 1,196 paired interviews with youth ages 11-18 and their parents. "Among youth who had at least one sunburn, 38.2% reported using sunscreen lotion with [SPF] 15+ prior to receiving the sunburn," the abstract notes. Youth ages 11-13 were "more likely than older youth to report 'often' or 'always' wearing SPF 15+ sunscreen lotion (42.1% versus 24.4%), yet they were more likely to report having had a sunburn that summer," the researchers note. "Despite frequent use of SPF 15+ sunscreen lotion, these results suggest that sunburns are highly prevalent among youth," the abstract says. Future education efforts "must focus on the spectrum of preventive behaviors and the limitations of sunscreen lotion"