Teens snub tan warning

Bronze glow sign of skin trauma

EXPERTS are sending a stern warning to tanning teenagers as data reveals a huge number of young people still believe a bronze glow is healthy.

New Cancer Council figures this week show an alarming 62 per cent of children aged between 12 and 17 say their friends think a tan is a good thing.

Worryingly, this statistic is up 2 percentage points from last year.

Girls seem most at risk of sun damage, with 43 per cent saying they prefer to have tanned skin.

Professionals hope to quash the myth that a tan is “healthy”, and spread the warning that it’s actually a sign that skin cells are in trauma.

The new data is particularly worrying given Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.

About two out of three Aussies will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70.

St Vincent’s Hospital’s Associate Professor Anthony Joshua described the findings as “alarming” and stressed “the only good tan is no tan”.

“We now know that even incidental sun exposure can cause accumulating mutations in the skin and there’s no good reason to purposely get a tan,” the leading skin cancer specialist said.

“It’s alarming that the philosophy is still out there despite the efforts that ‘slip, slop, slap’ and other marketing campaigns have tried to change.

“We need to re-engage with our youth to reinforce the message of the dangers of skin cancers, especially melanomas, in Australia.”

Psychologist Michael CarrGregg believes there are three reasons why teenagers are ignoring the warning signs.

“A unique characteristic of teenage brains is an inability to predict the consequences of their actions,” he said.

“Secondly, social media says that tans are sexy and hot, and, thirdly, teenagers are massively influenced by their peers.”

Meanwhile, Cancer Council chief executive Sanchia Aranda called on the government to invest in a public awareness campaign to help get the message through to young people.

“There has been no national investment in skin cancer public awareness by the government in more than a decade, but we know when it does occur, behaviours are altered,” Prof Aranda said.