Exposure to the sun: the risks still too often forgotten by young and old

As part of the Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) which has just ended in Slovenia, Pierre Fabre unveiled the results of his study “Sunscreen Assessment Family Experience (SAFE)” conducted among 8,120 adults – parents and grandparents – in the middle of summer, in seven countries around the world. And it appears very clearly that adults and children do not (still) follow the health recommendations in terms of sun protection.

The survey was carried out by EMMA, among 6,662 parents and 1,458 grandparents having authority over children in August 2021 in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United States and in January 2022 in Brazil and Australia ( summertime).

An uninformed public

Last year, in the middle of the summer season, only nearly a third of children received adequate sun protection despite being exposed to the hottest hours of the day. A figure that drops to 13% for the adult population. And it would not be the only recommendation that the public does not follow. While health professionals recommend applying sun protection at least every two hours during periods of sunshine considered the most risky – between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. – only 18.5% of children have actually benefited from it.

“50 to 80% of cumulative exposure occurs during early childhood being the main cause of most skin cancers”, recalls Dr Ariadna Ortiz Brugués of the medical department of the Avène Dermatological Laboratories. However, the study shows that 32% of children had at least one sunburn during the summer; the number of sunburns being established at two on average.

These behaviors could be explained in particular by a lack of information on photoprotection, as well as on certain clichés which obviously have a hard life, and this despite prevention campaigns carried out each year. Nearly one in two respondents (45%) admitted not knowing that UVB caused sunburn, 27% that UVA accelerated the aging of the skin, and more than a fifth of respondents believe that clouds provide protection from the sun.

Children who could change the game

But these figures could be reversed in the future if we consider that some children do not take sunscreen lightly. Nearly 47% of them expressed their wish to apply the cream without the help of parents. This observation affects all the countries surveyed, from France (41%) to the United States (54%) via Spain (almost 52%) and Germany (almost 46%). And in general, the youngest showed that they were aware of the issues concerning sun protection, up to 70% – and up to 75% in France.