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Teens

Do teens practice proper sun protection?

• More than half of teens (52%) say they are not too careful or not at all careful to protect their skin from sun exposure.
• Younger teens (age 12 to 14) are more careful about sun protection than older teens (age 15 to 17) – 52% vs. 43%.
• Teens are much less careful than adults surveyed – 70% of adults say they are very or somewhat careful vs. only 52% of teens.
• In general, teen girls are more careful about protecting themselves from the sun than teen boys – 59% of girls say they are very or somewhat careful; 63% of teen boys report they are not careful.

• Most teens (79%) are aware that getting a tan from the sun can be dangerous for their skin and 81% know that the sunburns they got as a child increase their risk of developing skin cancer as an adult – yet 60% said they got sunburned last summer.
• Despite knowing that the sun can be dangerous to their skin, a majority of teens (66%) still think people look better when they have a tan.
• 38% of teens claim to know someone who has or had skin cancer, yet 47% think people look healthier with a tan.
• 70% of teens know that you can get skin cancer on parts of your skin that are not exposed to the sun, yet 32% of older teen girls (age 15 to 17) say that they used a tanning bed or tanning salon in the last year.

Who protects themselves better in the sun?

• 77% of women say they are very or somewhat careful to protect their skin from sun exposure vs. only 62% of men.
• Women are more likely to apply sunscreen than men (66% vs. 43%). In a 2003 Academy survey, only 47% of women and 33% of men reported using sunscreen regularly – indicating sunscreen usage may have increased.
• Women are more likely than men to stay in the shade (74% vs. 64%).
• 65% of men wear a hat when outdoors in the sun vs. only 36% of women.

• 69% of men vs. 61% of women say people look better with a tan.
• More men than women still believe that people look healthier when they have a tan (60% vs. 54%).
• More men (36%) report getting sunburned last summer than women (26%).

Does geography matter?

• People in the west are most likely to get sunburned (34%).
• More people in the north central region of the U.S. (11%) reported using a tanning bed or tanning salon in the last year than any other region of the country.
• More respondents in the northeast said that people look healthier when they have a tan (62%) and better when they have a tan (69%).
• Teens in the north central region are most likely to have gotten sunburned in the last year (66%).
• Teens in the northeast region are the most careful to protect themselves from sun exposure (54%), while teens in the north central region are the least careful (44%).
• Teen boys in the north central region (74%) and teen boys in the south (72%) are most likely to agree that a tan is still seen as a good thing.

Does money matter?

• People with the highest household income ($75K or more) were more likely to agree that people look better when they have a tan (73%). In fact, as household income increased, so did the number of respondents who agreed with this statement.
• Those with the highest household income ($75K or more) were most likely to have used a tanning bed or tanning salon in the last year (11%) – the main reason cited by this group was to get a “base” tan before the summer or a vacation (74%).
• Of those respondents that were parents or grandparents, the number that said they always or usually protect their child or grandchild from the sun when they’re outside together increased as household income increased (71% with household income up to $25K vs. 93% with household income of $75K or more).

The facts presented were determined from two surveys conducted in 2005 by Opinion Research Corporation in collaboration with the Academy. The teen study results were determined by a random sample telephone survey conducted among a national sample of 505 teens comprising 254 males and 251 females 12 to 17 years of age, living in private households in the continental United States. The adult survey results were determined by a telephone survey conducted among a national probability sample of 1,013 adults comprising 505 men and 508 women 18 years of age and older, living in private households in the continental United States.

The geographic regions in the continental United States referenced in the survey are defined as: North East: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jerse

y, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia West: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.

Last updated: 06/04/2005