Awareness, attitudes and behaviour of teenagers to sunlight

Most campaigns for the prevention of skin cancer have detected more new cases and decreased the number of advanced cancers. Since the incidence of skin cancer continues to increase, however, we believe that primary prevention is the best way to control it. It must be kept in mind that sunlight exposure is the main changeable risk factor for skin cancer and that this exposure is most significant in childhood and adolescence. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the need for a campaign and design one if necessary. We therefore proposed to determine the level of awareness and the behaviour of students with respect to sunlight exposure. We surveyed 628 teenage students from 9 high schools in the city of Granada (Spain). The questions were grouped into four sections: 1. Relationship Sun and Skin, 2. Relationship Sun and Environment, 3. Relationship Sun and Health, 4. Evaluation of Attitudes and Behaviour. More than 60% of the students gave satisfactory answers with regard to awareness, in contrast to the responses for attitudes and behaviour. Prevention campaigns for students are definitely necessary, keeping in mind in their design that a high level of awareness does not translate into healthy habits with regard to sunlight. Intervention to change behaviour patterns should be the main goal of primary prevention campaigns.