A new study suggests that despite being aware of the health risks of using tanning beds, young people justify their tanning by believing “everything causes cancer.” Researchers from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City surveyed 600 university students and found that, of those who said they’d ever used a tanning bed, 59 percent agreed with the statement, “Tanning bed use can make me ill, but everything causes cancer these days.” More than half agreed that, “Tanning
...moreA new study suggests that despite being aware of the health risks of using tanning beds, young people justify their tanning by believing “everything causes cancer.” Researchers from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City surveyed 600 university students and found that, of those who said they’d ever used a tanning bed, 59 percent agreed with the statement, “Tanning bed use can make me ill, but everything causes cancer these days.” More than half agreed that, “Tanning bed use is no more risky than lots of other things that people do.” Researcher Smita Banerjee said that thinking that there is danger all around you is a common way of justifying risky behaviors, but young people need to be properly taught about minimizing cancer risk. The study also found that 12 percent said they agreed “It is more important for me to get that tanned look at this age than worry about skin cancer.” The findings were published this week in the journal Archives of Dermatology.
