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SUMMARY

Full report published in Danish by the Danish Cancer Society and TrygFonden smba, 2009. ISBN: 978-87-7064-108-1

This report gives an overview of the sunbed habits of Danish children and young people in 2008 based on 2 representative surveys – one of children and young people aged 8-18, the other of young people aged 15-25.

Children use sunbeds
3% of 8-12 year olds have used a sunbed during 2008 and 4% of this age group have tried it once. In general, it is the older members of this age group who use sunbeds but there are examples of sunbed users as young as 8 years old.

Sunbed use increases as teenagers get older
The use of sunbeds increases with age and peaks among 19-20 year olds before decreasing from age 21 and thereafter.

Young girls are frequent users of sunbeds and 58% of 19-20 year old girls had used a sunbed during 2008.

Parents know that their children use sunbeds
In general, parents are aware that young people are using sunbeds. 86% of sunbed users aged between 15 and 18 years old stated that their parents knew how often they used a sunbed. Even though these answers do not show that parents condone their children’s use of sunbeds, the answers indicate that sunbed use is not an activity that children in general hide from their parents.

Reasons for using or not using sunbeds
The two main reasons for using sunbeds are cosmetic – to get a tan or to get rid of winter paleness. Around one in ten also used a sunbed to look healthy or because of skin problems, such as spots.

Among non-sunbed users, the most common reason for not using sunbeds was concern about health, especially the increased risk of cancer. This is reinforced by the fact that the majority of young people in the open answer category of the survey stated that they do not use a sunbed because of the risk of ‘cancer’ or ‘skin cancer’.

There are also young people who distance themselves from those who use sunbeds on grounds of style.

Using sunbeds is a social activity
The surveys reveal that sunbed use is often a social activity and up to a third of young people go with someone when they use sunbeds, often friends. In addition the more sunbed-using friends a young person has, the more likely they are to use sunbeds themselves.

Young people still do not understand the health implications of their sunbed use
Even though a large proportion of young people understand that sunbeds can lead to cancer, 58% of 15-25 year olds believe that sunbed use needs to be weekly or more frequently to be harmful for health. The results of a Nordic study have shown that there is an increased risk of skin cancer based on a monthly use of sunbeds – a fact also communicated by the Danish sun safety campaign. 75% of young sunbed users do not think that their behaviour is risky for their health. This is especially true of teenagers.

Future use of sunbeds
41% of 15-25 year olds expect that they will use sunbeds in the future, which is the same as the current level among 15-25 year olds. In particular, girls and the youngest members of this age group expect to continue using sunbeds.

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