Good news for skin cancer prevention as sun tans go out of fashion

Bronzed and beautiful are no longer two words that fit together in the eyes of teenagers across the UK - 65 per cent now believe that having a suntan can make you look ‘chavvy’, which is definitely not the look fashion-conscious teens are going for!

Research revealed today by Teenage Cancer Trust, in conjunction with Superdrug, which polled 1,000 UK teenagers, shows a trend towards teenagers revolting against suntans. But despite teens shunning suntans, there’s clearly a lack of knowledge amongst them when it comes to looking after their skin in the sun. Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of teenagers mistakenly believe that either wearing tanning oil or being in the swimming pool will protect them from the sun and decrease their risk of burning.

This is the very reason that Teenage Cancer Trust is launching a summer campaign, Shunburn, to educate teenagers on how to behave sensibly in the sun. As part of the campaign, the charity has set up an innovative free text alert service for teenagers. Text messages will be sent on hot days, giving useful sun safety tips, including reminders to wear sun cream and cover up and giving teens ten per cent off sun cream at Superdrug, the campaign’s partner.

Despite the fact that teens don’t want to look ‘chavvy’ it seems that looking good in their summer outfits on the beach is more important than protecting their skin from sunburn. Forty two per cent of teenagers surveyed by TCT said they are reluctant to cover up in hot weather – even when they’re at risk of burning – because they are too concerned with their image. Clearly they feel pressure from peers to wear the right outfit, but at what cost?

It seems that endless images of over-tanned celebrities are beginning to be a turn-off for many teens, but more education on behaving responsibly during the hot summer months - both in the UK and abroad - is desperately needed. More than one in five teens (21 per cent) state they do not give their health a second thought when out in the sun – admitting they’re happy to just deal with the health consequences later in life.

But it’s vital that teenagers act now to protect themselves because skin cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers in the UK. There are 75,000 new cases diagnosed each year with over 2,300 of these people dying from the disease. The number of cases of melanoma in young people has doubled in the last 20 years and it’s the damage done to the skin in the younger years that can lead to skin cancer in later life.

Lucy Jackson, Director of Communications at Teenage Cancer Trust, commented: “We were very surprised when the results of our survey revealed that teenagers now see sun tans as ‘chavvy’, but we hope that this means that they will start to be more careful in the sun. The fact that tans are beginning to be deemed unfashionable is great for skin cancer prevention, but we clearly have a lot to do in educating young people about the dangers of the sun, which is exactly why TCT is running this campaign.”

Professor Rona Mackie, a skin cancer expert at Glasgow University continued: “It’s vital that teenagers learn how to behave sensibly in the sun and that they understand it’s the damage done to their skin in their early years that can cause skin cancer in later life.

“Teenage Cancer Trust wants to encourage everyone to sign up for their text alerts – it’s time that teenagers take action and ensure they are loaded with the information required to keep safe in the sun.”

Teenagers can sign up to the text alert service at Teenagecancertrust.org/shunburn.

Superdrug is partnering Teenage Cancer Trust on its Shunburn campaign providing free sun cream for teenagers at outdoor events throughout the summer keeping them protected when they need it most. They are also including educational messages in all 913 stores and offering a 10 per cent discount on Superdrug’s own SOLAIT brand sun cream to all those who sign up to the campaign. An A-list celebrity face of the campaign will be announced in May.