- Title
- Children's sun exposure and sun protection: prevalence in Australia and related parental factors
- Creator
- Dobbinson, Suzanne; Wakefield, Melanie; Bowles, Kelly-Ann; Hill, David; Girgis, Afaf; Aitken, Joanne F.; Beckmann, Kerri; Reeder, Anthony I.; Herd, Natalie; Spittal, Matthew J.; Fairthorne, Andrew
- Relation
- Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology Vol. 66, Issue 6, p. 938-947
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2011.06.015
- Publisher
- Mosby
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2012
- Description
- Background: Reducing childhood exposure to ultraviolet radiation is important to minimize lifetime skin cancer risk. Objectives: We sought to describe the prevalence of children's sun-related behaviors and associated parental and other factors. Methods: In weekly cross-sectional telephone interviews during summer, 1140 parents/guardians of children aged 0 to 11 years were recruited. Parents provided proxy reports for one of their children. Key questions related to weekend sun protection and sunburn, parent's sun-related attitudes, and demographic characteristics. Potential predictors of children's sun protection and sunburn were analyzed adjusting for covariates including weather conditions on the previous weekend. Results: On summer weekends, 73% of children spent longer than 15 minutes outdoors in peak ultraviolet radiation periods. Of these, 64% were protected by a hat and 58% by sun-protection factor 15 or higher sunscreen, 32% stayed under shade, and 18% wore three-quarter or long-sleeved tops. Overall, 8% of children had sunburn. Parental attitudes were typically supportive of children's sun protection. Parental use of hats (odds ratio [OR] 3.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6-6.2), shade (OR 9.6; 95% CI 4.4-20.8), sunscreen (OR 12.6; 95% CI 5.2-30.4), longer leg cover (OR 10.3; 95% CI 4.4-24.0), and two or more protective behaviors (OR 5.7; 95% CI 2.8-11.9) increased the odds of their children practicing these behaviors, as did some parental attitudes. Limitations: We relied on cross-sectional parent reports. Conclusion: Although children's sun protection was favorable, there was room for improvement. Health promotion to improve sun-protection practices in adults may benefit children's sun-safe behaviors.
- Subject
- skin cancer prevention; sun protection; sunburn
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1340600
- Identifier
- uon:28523
- Identifier
- ISSN:0190-9622
- Language
- eng
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