Despite knowing skin cancer risks, young people still sunbake

New research on Australian attitudes to sun protection shows young people are still sunbaking with the intention to tan, despite knowing the skin cancer risk.

AMA (NSW) President, Dr Saxon Smith, has surveyed nearly 1,400 medical students and he found nearly one third of them sunbake.

“These results are typical for people in the under 30 age range and that’s what’s surprising.

“Even in a group that absolutely knows the skin cancer risk, the sun safety messages aren’t being acted upon,” Dr Smith said.

“Melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is the most common cancer in young people in Australia.

“It accounts for 20 per cent of cancer cases in people aged 15 to 39,” Australian Medical Students Association President, Elise Buisson, said.

“Exposure to sun safe messages is inescapable in Australia – we all know the drill: slip, slop, slap, seek and slide.

“We need to do more to encourage people to act on this knowledge if we are going to reduce our unhealthy world record of having the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world,” Dr Smith said.

“We also need to do more to raise awareness about sunscreen use.

“71 per cent of respondents in this survey either don’t wear enough or are unsure how much they should be wearing.

“This problem is not unique to medical students either.

“We all know we need to wear sunscreen but there isn’t a lot of education on how much is required.

“Many people are surprised when they learn that a good amount is two tablespoons or about 40mL for an adult,” Dr Smith said.

“Even among medical students the most common reason for not wearing sunscreen is that they forget.

“Around 80 per cent of respondents said they forget to put on sunscreen and this is something they have in common with the rest of Australia too,” Ms Buisson said.

“62 per cent of the survey respondents said they had been sunburnt at least once in the previous 12 months.

“Typically, these sunburns were sustained while on holidays.

“UV rays don’t take holidays and you still need to be vigilant when it comes to sun protection when you’re on a break,” Dr Smith said.

Media contact: Lachlan Jones 0419 402 955