NEARLY HALF of Irish children get sunburned in Ireland every summer, new research has found.
The study, carried out among creche, pre-school and primary schoolchildren in Cork city and county, also found that while many parents were aware of what they needed to do to protect their children from sunburn, they often did not apply this knowledge.
The research, by GP trainee Dr Ann Kiely, also established that 62 per cent of families practised more conscientious sun protection when abroad than when at home.
Dr Kiely said the finding that 46.1 per cent of children get sunburned in the summer months is “very worrying” because sunburn in childhood and adolescence increases a child’s risk of developing skin cancer in later life.
“It is estimated that 50-80 per cent of a person’s lifetime sun exposure occurs before the age of 18 years, making sun protection essential during childhood.
“It’s a very critical period. It sets the stage for increased risk in later life so it’s very important to target this age group to reduce the skin cancer burden in Ireland for the future,” she said.
“A national health promotion campaign addressing children’s sun protection is needed in Ireland,” she added.
The research, published in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journaland as the country basks in a heatwave, was conducted among a random sample of parents of 250 children aged two months to 12 years in Cork in 2006. The findings could be generalised to apply to the whole country and to all Irish summers, Dr Kiely said.
The study found significant differences existed between what parents knew to be safe sun protection practices and their children’s sun protection measures.
For example, while 96.4 per cent of parents knew sunscreen should be applied 15 to 30 minutes before their children went outdoors, just 86.8 per cent of them actually did so.
And while 86.8 per cent of parents believed sunscreen should be reapplied every two hours, only 30.5 per cent actually practised this for their children.
Overall, parents reported using sunscreen on 96 per cent of children, hats/caps on 67 per cent of children, sunglasses on 24 per cent of children and protective clothing on 22 per cent of children. Dr Kiely said sunscreen was very important but it was only one of several skin protection methods parents should use. They should use a very high protection sunscreen – factor 30 to 40 if not higher – and should also use caps and sunglasses and cover up with long-sleeve T-shirts. In addition, she said, babies up to six months of age should not be out in the sun at all, and sun exposure should be avoided between 11am and 3pm when solar UV radiation is greatest.
She described sunburn as “irreversible skin damage” and said while parents in general wanted to do the best for their children, they needed more education on the ways to protect their children from sunburn and the risks of not doing so.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in Ireland, and the all-Ireland incidence of malignant melanoma, which is the most serious form of skin cancer, is higher than the EU average, with nearly 600 new cases diagnosed and more than 100 deaths annually from the disease.