Time to put on sunscreen

Just in time for summer, new survey results show that the appeal of tanned skin may finally be waning.

Just 53 percent of people surveyed believe they look better with a tan and 63 percent say they are not more attracted to someone who is tanned. Sixtynine percent do not think a tan makes them look slimmer. The survey was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media for iVillage in partnership with the Skin Cancer Foundation.

"These findings are encouraging," said Dr. Perry Robins, president of the Skin Cancer Foundation. "Once people stop linking their self esteem to tanned skin, we will really begin making headway in the fight against skin cancer. For now, there is still a lot of work to be done since an alarming number of people never use sunscreen."

Forty percent of people revealed that they never use sunscreen and only 11 percent use an SPF 15 or higher daily. Forty-two percent of people are still getting sunburned at least once a year. A person's risk for melanoma (the most serious form of skin cancer) doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns. The small percentage of people applying sunscreen daily is surprising given that 58 percent of people say they are concerned about skin cancer. These findings demonstrate a lack of understanding that everyday incidental sun exposure, like intermittent, intense exposure (such as on beach vacations), seriously damages the skin over time. Women still do a much better job than men when it comes to using sunscreen. Forty-seven percent of men say they never wear sunscreen, compared to 34 percent of women. "We have always made a point to communicate the dangers of overexposure to the sun, especially within our health and beauty channels," said Deborah Fine, president of iVillage. "While these new results show that women are typically more responsible about using sunscreen, there are still 34 percent not wearing any at all. We feel a sense of obligation to push the sun safety message to our millions of users and Memorial Day - the official start of beachgoing season - is the perfect time to do that."

For more sun safety information, visit www.health.ivillage. com or www.skincancer.org.