Australians no longer believe a tan is something to aspire to, but too many still get sunburnt and put themselves at risk of potentially deadly skin cancers, the Cancer Council says.
Almost 600,000 Victorians still get sunburnt on a typical summer weekend, many through incidental sun exposure, a survey released by the council on Wednesday showed.
Of 1,269 people surveyed, 32% said they liked to get a suntan, while 44% believed a suntanned person looked healthier.
Cancer Council Victoria’s head of prevention, Craig Sinclair, said in the 1970s “almost everyone” reported wanting a tan. Sunburn and tanning increases the risk of skin cancers, including the potentially deadly melanoma.
“We don’t have a direct understanding of the relationship between the number of sunburns a person has and how much each burn increases melanoma risk, and that often comes down to individual circumstances,” Sinclair said.
“But there is no doubt that intense sun exposure increases risk.
“What we’re finding is that people are very good at covering up and protecting themselves when they know they will be in the sun, for example when they’re going to the beach.
“But they’re accidentally getting burned through activities like gardening, when they might lose track of time or not realise how strong the sun’s UV rays are.”
Skin cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer, yet more than 40,000 cases are treated in Victoria each year. Public health campaigns should focus on reminding people that they could burn after just a short time outdoors, and not just at the beach, Sinclair said.
“But overall, the positive news is that the desire for a dark tan has long gone,” he said.
The Cancer Institute NSW reported similar findings on Monday. The institute’s survey of 1,983 people found that only one in 10 people aged 18 to 24 reported they had attempted to tan the previous weekend, but almost double that number got burnt.
Much of that was through incidental sunburn, with 40% reporting they simply forgot to protect themselves from the sun. Some believed sun protection was unfashionable, with 15% citing that as a reason for not protecting themselves.
Cancer Council data released in December found 79% of adults supported the ban on sun-beds, which now applies in all states and territories except WA, where they will be phased out within two years.
Last year, Australia became the first country in the world to show an improvement in skin cancer rates, with a small reduction in levels of melanoma and non-melanoma in the under-45 age group.