210408 What's Up with Sun Safety?: Trends and Correlates of Sun Protective Behaviors

Monday, November 9, 2009: 3:30 PM

Amy L. Yaroch, PhD , Health Promotion Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. The best way to help prevent skin cancer is through sun protective practices (“sun safety”). These include seeking shade especially during midday hours (10 AM – 4 PM), covering up exposed areas of the skin with clothing (e.g., wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants), wearing a wide-brimmed hat, and applying a sunscreen with UVA and UVB protection and a sun protective factor (SPF) of 15 or greater. In addition, another strategy is to not engage in indoor tanning practices. Despite these clear and effective strategies, adherence is far below the target goals for Healthy People 2010. In addition, there is a paucity of literature on identifying predictors/correlates of and trends in sun safe behaviors, especially in children and adolescents. Thus, there are clear gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed in order to further progress the research area of skin cancer prevention.

Learning Objectives:
1) Participants will be able to identify changes in sun safety patterns as they relate to risk of skin cancer 2) Participants will be able to describe risk factors associated with sun safety among youth and adolescents discuss their potential relevance to intervention programs. 3) Participants will be able to discuss the potential impact of parental sun safety behaviors on children.

Keywords: Cancer, Cancer Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Tobacco control faculty at NCI
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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