According to new data released today from the NSW School Students Health Behaviours Survey High school students across NSW are heeding the public health messages around skin cancer. Chief Cancer Officer and CEO of the Cancer Institute NSW, Professor David Currow attributes the shift in attitude on the desirability of a tan is in line with the airing of skin cancer prevention campaigns by the Cancer Institute NSW, There’s Nothing Healthy About a Tan and Wes Bonny.
“Skin cancer is Australia’s national cancer and the most common cancer in our young people. We still have a long way to go in changing people’s behaviours but this data shows that we are heading in the right direction. In a country with a long history of glorifying tanned skin, this is an enormous cultural shift that we hope will go on to make a difference to skin cancer rates in years to come,” Professor Currow commented.

The report has that 41.4 per cent of high school students now preferring to have no tan, the number of teens who stayed in the shade during high UV periods has jumped from 26.1 per cent in 2005, to 34.8 per cent in 2011 and the decrease in teenager’s use of sunscreen which has dropped from 62.5 per cent in 1993 to 42.5 per cent in 2005 has halted.
“Watching the story of Wes Bonny on TV definitely made it clear that skin cancer could potentially happen to anyone, including me. I try not to let it effect me too much, and it hasn’t prevented me from doing things I want to do. Going to school in the city means I’m not out in the sun as much as other teenagers but I’ve gotten into the habit of using sunscreen generally when out during the day. I’ve definitely noticed that the tanning isn’t nearly as popular amongst my friends and I as it might have been a few years ago.” Year 12 student Joey Watson commented.