Wrinkles are a bigger deterrent than skin cancer when it comes to warning young
women about the dangers of sunbeds.
Scientists discovered the fear of having leathery, wrinkled skin put girls off
going to tanning salons more than the threat of deadly melanoma.
"They're not worried about skin cancer but they are worried about getting
wrinkled and being unattractive," said dermatology professor June Robinson. "The
fear of looking horrible trumped everything else."
Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts has campaigned to persuade women to avoid
tanning salons because of the health dangers.
The research, by Northwestern University in Chicago, showed that warning
so-called tanorexic women about the effects on their appearance caused a 35%
drop in their tanning salon visits. The women, aged 18 to 22, received a booklet
that highlighted how ultraviolet rays destroyed collagen in the skin.
Joel Hillhouse, community health professor at East Tennessee University who
wrote the booklet, said: "Don't focus on skin cancer. The message that will get
young women's attention is indoor tanning's long-term effect on their
appearance. That will wake them up and get them to think about this."
The World Health Organization recently reclassified indoor tanning beds to its
highest cancer risk category.
Source : mirror.co.uk
