Selling Kids Cancer

Selling kids cancer. This is Dr. Steven Andrew Davis, Speaking of Health. The “Joe Camel” story is the classic example of selling kids cancer. The cartoon figure made cigarette smoking alluring to more children and teens. And now New York’s Skin Cancer Foundation is steamed about another new low: tanning salons targeting teens and even kids for their skin-cancer producing rays.

The Foundation cites a study from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland which found that, among whites ages 13 to 19, more than a third of the females and over a tenth of the males in the US have used tanning booths. Ironically, every US state prohibits sales of cigarettes to those under age 18, but only three states – Texas, Illinois, and Wisconsin – forbid tanning salon use by minors. Slightly more encouraging is the fact that 18 states require parents or guardians’ written consent for minors to use tanning facilities.

Contraty to medical knowledge, some salon owners “insist that indoor tanning is safer than sunshine”… or even bebeneficial “gradually increasing dark melanin pigment” in effect helping “prevent sunburn”. But the Skin Cancer Foundation notes tht many salons exceed so-called “safe” ultraviolet light limits and that medical studies consistently show that “indoor tanning increases the risk of both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers.”

Selling kids cancer – now in a whole new light. For a copy of this, access our website, www.speakingofhealth.com. Speaking of Health, I’m Dr. Steven Andrew Davis for CBS News.

Ref: Sun & Skin News. The Skin Cancer Foundation. Vol 21, No. 1, 2004 www.skincancer.org