School skin cancer alert

By REBECCA WALSH, health reporter

Secondary schools need to consider re-scheduling outdoor sports activities and providing uniforms that allow students to cover up in summer to help reduce the incidence of skin cancer, Otago University researchers say.

Each year about 300 New Zealanders die from skin cancer but the researchers found only a quarter of schools surveyed had written sun protection policies.

Janet Jopson, assistant research fellow at the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, said there was more awareness of the need for sun protection in primary schools but by secondary level it appeared to have dropped off.

"We may be better at protecting young children but there's still that big thing out there that at a certain age you don't need to be so careful," she said.

"Adolescents think they are bullet-proof and don't have to worry about skin cancer 40 years down the track."

The survey of 50 secondary schools found three had written policies stating they would consider rescheduling outdoor events (for example, starting sports days in the late afternoon).

Only eight said they incorporated sun protection into the curriculum but 90 per cent reported teachers taught something about sun safety.

At each school a year 10 class was asked if they had been taught about sun protection in the past 12 months. More than half the students said they had not.

In contrast, only 10 per cent to 13 per cent of students involved in a similar survey in Victoria, Australia, said they had not had sun protection instruction.

Mrs Jopson recommended incorporating sun awareness into the curriculum, for example learning about the effects of UV on the body in science or designing shade shelters as part of a graphic design course.

Schools also needed to consider re-scheduling outdoor activities and providing uniforms that allowed students to cover up.

Sunscreen could be included on students' stationery lists.

School Trustees Association president Chris France said schools were aware of the need to develop sun protection programmes but acknowledged there was room for improvement.

Secondary schools tended to focus on academic results and if it came down to spending money on investing in learning or sun protection it would be a "hard call".

Mr France said schools had helped create a mindset against drink driving and the same thing could apply to sun safety. "We have been casual about it as a nation and need to incorporate it in our day-to-day thinking."

Among the findings

Many students learned nothing about sun safety.

Sports were regularly held during peak UV times.

Classrooms were shut during lunch hours.

Often there were too few shade areas.