A burning issue: indoor Tanning debate heats up

0 Comments | Current Events, May 6, 2005

Hanna Forest, a 16-year-old high school cheerleader from Illinois, loves catching rays, but not from the sun. She gets her glow from a lighted glass bed at the Coral Reef tanning salon in a local strip mall.

"It takes too long to lie out [in the sun]" she told Newsweek. "I don't want to be pale. This makes me feel like I look healthy."

But if an Illinois lawmaker gets his way, Hanna's glow may soon disappear. Rep. Kevin Joyce wants the state legislature to pass a law banning anyone under 18 from using tanning facilities, even with a parent's permission, as currently required by state law.

If passed, the ban would be the toughest teen tanning law in the United States. According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), 22 states restrict teen tanning by requiring parental consent or by banning kids under 14 from using indoor tanning salons.

Those restrictions have sparked a hotbed of controversy between tanning fans and foes.

There's nothing healthy about a tan, say most dermatologists. "While many health issues are complex and involve multiple factors, we know that ultraviolet light is the primary cause of skin cancer, and avoiding excessive exposure is the solution" Dr. Clay J. Cockerell, president of the AAD, said in a statement issued in March. "Indoor tanning is particularly troubling because it's so unnecessary, it is not associated with playing sports or other outdoor activities but is practiced solely for cosmetic reasons. Individuals who [use] tanning beds are intentionally putting their health at risk."

Cockerell strongly favors the Illinois ban, and the AAD recently endorsed a World Health Organization appeal urging world governments to prohibit minors from tanning indoors. "While we protect our young people from using alcohol and tobacco, we do not protect them from engaging in indoor tanning, which research has shown is dangerous," he said.

Tanners Feel Burned

Such comments have some tanners seeing red. "Restricting teens from using indoor tanning facilities will not prevent teens from tanning" reads a statement from the Indoor Tanning Association. "They'll simply go outside, where there's a much greater likelihood of sunburn" the statement continued.

California teen Micaela Williams, who has tanned indoors for two years, agrees. "In a tanning salon, you're in a controlled environment. You know exactly what you're getting" she told the East Bay Express. She thinks teens are smart enough to weigh the risks for themselves. "Once you're that age, you can think for yourself. You can ... make your own choices."

Illinois state Rep. David Reis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he thinks the proposed tanning ban goes too far. "Where do we stop with this? Are we going to have legislation requiring kids to wear long-sleeved shirts when they go swimming?"

Take part in a CE poll on this News Debate at www.weeklyreader.com/ce.> Get Talking

Ask students: Why might some states place restrictions on indoor tanning for teenagers?

Notes Behind the News

* A tan appears in response to skin's exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun or a tanning bed. The skin darkens because its cells release more of the pigment melanin. Melanin protects the body by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation.

* According to the American Academy of Dermatology, people under 25 have tripled their use of tanning salons since 1996. Of the 28 million tanners, an estimated 2.3 million are teenagers.

* A 2003 study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that 28 percent of teenage girls and 7 percent of teenage boys in the United States have used tanning booths three or more times. The study found that the popularity of indoor tanning increases among girls as they age. Eleven percent of 13- and 14-year-old girls surveyed reported going indoor tanning three or more times, but that number grew to 47 percent among 18- to 19-year-olds.

Doing More

Ask students to research ways in which people altered their appearance to be fashionable in a different time period or culture--for example, foot binding in China or wearing corsets in 19th century America. Why were the results considered attractive? Did the practices have any negative health effects? Besides tanning, what appearance-related trends today are potentially harmful?

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