BUBBLY TV presenter Denise Van Outen’s admission this week that her face has been left scarred by sunbeds is a stark warning to us all.
Teens and 20-somethings are spending as much time in the tanning salon as they are at the nail bar.
But getting ‘all tanned up’ has its price. The statistics make for scary reading.
According to a survey commissioned by Cancer Research UK, eight out of ten sunbed users have increased their risk of a life-threatening form of skin cancer by around 75% through using a sunbed before the age of 35.
Malignant melanoma, the potentially fatal form of skin cancer, is now the most common cancer in young adults aged between 15 and 34.
You can’t always see the damage straight away. It builds up over time, as it did with Denise. And many young people seem unaware of the risks.
The case for legislation is all too compelling.
At the very least the under-18s should be prevented from using sunbeds and there ought to be a ban on unstaffed coin-operated sunbeds which can attract the young.
Those people who insist on a tan – because it makes them feel better and more confident – should remember that there are plenty of fake tan products on the market which can be used without giving you the risk of skin cancer.
