British Kids Under Pressure To Stay Cool!
Children between 8 and 10 say that having a sun tan is more important to looking good than being thin, according to a recent MORI survey.
Northern youngsters are more enthusiastic about getting a tan than their southern counterparts (32 per cent versus 20 per cent) but there is little difference in attitudes between boys and girls.
Even though one in five know that getting sunburnt could cause skin cancer, a third (31%) think that they would look better if they had a suntan. However, eighty two per cent do know that you can put on sun cream to stop sunburn.
Of the 81 per cent who say that they have used sun cream, just over half need an explanation of what it is.
Furthermore, a significant proportion have themselves suffered from sunburn. Forty per cent of young children have already been burnt at least once, and of those, around a quarter said that they had been sunburnt on at least three separate occasions.
Technical details
MORI interviewed 413 eight to ten year old boys and girls across Great Britain between 11-19 January 1997. Interviews were conducted face-to-face, in their homes and with parental consent. Final results are weighted to the population profile.
