Six in 10 teenage girls say they have been sunburnt on their face, but fewer than one in three wear sunscreen daily
S
ince Covid, anti-science conspiracy theories have been circulated ever more widely on social media. The most worrying to dermatologists is a growing movement against sunscreen, the best and most evidenced precaution (beyond covering up with clothing or staying indoors) that we can take against skin cancers, including melanoma.
The conspiracy theorists claim that sunscreen causes cancer, rather than preventing it. Although there is no robust evidence to support this (and there is a mountain of clinical data showing the opposite), kids are inevitably most susceptible to the propaganda.
Teen beauty brand Indu recently conducted a survey which found that 60% of teenage girls say they’ve been sunburnt on their face, but only 27% wear sunscreen daily. Teenage boys (including my own) are even less likely to wear SPF. So, while there’s little we can do about the proliferation of online quackery, and the onus should be on social media platforms like TikTok, we can encourage our children to incorporate sunscreen into their daily routines.
