A study of 1,000 children aged between nine and sixteen-years-old has found that children and teenagers are taking extreme measures to achieve the bronzed glow they see their favourite celebrities sporting on television; and Michelle Keegan was voted the celebrity with the most admirable tan.
The study was part of a summer skin cancer education campaign, and it worryingly revealed that children apply baby oil, lie to their parents about applying sun-cream and use a tan accelerators to achieve the desired results. They also wear as few clothes as possible and sit out in midday sun.
When asked about why they wanted to get a tan so much, 31 per cent said they wanted a tan because celebrities are always bronzed, and 64 per cent said they just felt healthier when they had caught the sun. Over half said it was much more fashionable to be brown than pale.
A staggering 67% admitted that they didn’t see the point in going on holiday to a destination where they wouldn’t get a tan, and 33% said that they had been burnt so badly that their skin had peeled.
Simon Comins, of Superdrug, who conducted the survey said: “The results of this poll are incredible considering the fact that we all know about the damaging effects of the sun.
“At the very least we would have expected youngsters to be aware of using sun creams to protect themselves from harmful UV rays - even if it’s just because their parents put it on them at every given opportunity.
“The worrying thing is that in a bid to look like tanned celebrities, our children are damaging their future health.
“What they are forgetting is that celebrities they are emulating are probably using fake tans in order to get the bronzed look safely.
One single blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles a person’s chance of developing melanoma in later life.”
