Youngsters are still getting burned from using sunbeds, despite a ban on under-18s, a conference will be told today.
Research carried out by Public Health England (PHE) and the University of the West of England while half of all under-age sunbed users say they have been burnt at some point, 100% of children using unsupervised coin-operated sunbeds regularly have been burnt at least once.
The study, which will be presented at PHE’s annual National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) conference in Birmingham today, questioned more than 3,000 11–17-year-olds and found that the ban on under-18s from using sunbeds has led to a reduction in the number of children using them.
Only 4.5% said they had used sunbeds compared to nearly 7% in 2008/9.
However, 53% of the children questioned said they had never been asked for ID to prove their age and 4 in 10 said they were given no health advice on the potential harms of sunbeds, or told about differences between skin types.
Under-18s were banned from using sunbeds in 2009 in Scotland and 2 years later in England and Wales. Additionally, Wales and Scotland also included measures for all sunbeds to be supervised by trained staff. However, many children have side-stepped this by tanning at home or using unstaffed, coin-operated sunbeds.
Professor Julia Verne, lead author and strategic public health lead of PHE’s National Cancer Intelligence Network, called for improvements in the supervision of sunbed use.
“Businesses that fail to check the age of their customers are putting young people at risk of developing skin cancer later in life, as well as breaking the law,” she said. “We must do more and ensure that clear health information is given to those adults who choose to use them.”
Sara Osborne, Cancer Research UK’s head of policy, added: “With many children saying they aren’t being told about the risks or asked to prove their age, it’s vital the Government takes action to bring England in line with the rest of the UK.
“Cancer Research UK urges people not to use sunbeds for cosmetic reasons and we urge all businesses selling sunbed sessions to show responsibility and ask any customer they suspect is under 18 for proof of identity.”
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