KEY POINTS:
The sun protection message is getting through to children loud and clear, but many fail to heed it, partly because the people close to them still like the look of a suntanned body.
Research from Otago University indicates that this disconnection between knowledge and behaviour may be caused by children's pro-tanning attitudes - and the Cancer Society says sun-smart education may have to be redesigned.
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.
The research found children have high levels of sun-safe knowledge: 82 per cent in the survey said using sunscreen was one way to avoid skin cancer. But only half reported actually using sunscreen. Half said they wore a hat or cap to prevent sunburn and just 27 per cent wore a broad-brimmed hat, bucket hat or cap with flaps.
Questioned on their attitudes, 32 per cent said friends thought - and 25 per cent that their family thought - a suntan was a good thing. Two-thirds reported suffering a dose of sunburn in the preceding summer.
The researchers wrote in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health that previous attempts to boost children's sun protection had increased knowledge but had not necessarily changed behaviour. Their study showed that "attitudes towards sun exposure and obtaining a suntan should be specifically targeted in sun protection and skin cancer prevention programmes aimed at children".
The Cancer Society's adviser on skin cancer control, Dr Judith Galtry, said yesterday the survey indicated sun-smart education needed to be re-evaluated and perhaps made more sophisticated. She also appealed for greater support from Government agencies in promoting the message in schools. Only 20 per cent of schools had joined or were joining the sun-smart accreditation programme set up by the society and the Health Sponsorship Council to provide draft policies and curriculum materials.
The council's sun-smart manager, Wayde Beckman, said the figures in the study showed New Zealand had a long way to go, but he was not convinced sun-smart education needed an overhaul.
The council's television advertisements make the link between childhood sunburn and melanoma in later life, but do not employ the scare tactics of the current drunk-driving and alcohol abuse ads. Mr Beckman said the impact of the ad campaign was yet to be evaluated but phonecalls and emails from parents indicated they had heard it and understood.
The study:
* 488 children, in school years 4 or 8, were surveyed.
* 16 per cent said they felt healthier with a suntan.
* 24 per cent sunbathed regularly.
* 62 per cent got a suntan in the preceding summer.
* 64 per cent got sunburned in the preceding summer.
