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In February, I took some much-needed time off with my wife to bask in some sunshine and warm weather near Cocoa Beach, FL. The climate in Atlanta isn’t bad in the spring, but hey – what’s not to like about a beach chair, sunshine, the smell of salty air and the waves lapping at my feet? The plan is always to leave the clock at home and just kinda roll with it, but it’s really hard to disconnect. So, each day on vacay, I fired up my tablet to check in on the news and headlines. One particular report caught my eye. “Mothers often take daughters to first tanning salon visit.” Okay, you got my attention.
What followed was a “slam piece” on indoor tanning. Gee, what a surprise! For the purpose of illustrating the overwhelming amounts of negative media coverage targeting our industry, I dissected this report for your perusal.
“Many girls who begin going to tanning salons before they turn 16 don’t bring along friends or go alone. Instead, they tan with their mothers, a U.S. study suggests.”
Well, my gosh, isn’t that a good thing? A parent who goes to the salon with her daughter has the first-hand opportunity to ask questions of the staff, inspect the facility’s cleanliness and get a feel for its professionalism. Clearly, salon operators are in a great position to easily share factual info with those moms if they have taken IST Magazine’s Sun is Life® Training & Certification program. (Just a suggestion. For more on our training, visit sunislife.com.)
Okay, let’s get back to the report:
More than half of indoor tanners start before they’re 21 years old, and about one third of them begin before age 18, researchers report in JAMA Dermatology. About 45 percent of youth who start tanning before age 16 go with a family member. For 54 percent of girls and 28 percent of boys, that family member is mom.
“We were surprised at how common it is for a family member, usually the mother, to take their daughters under 16 to an indoor tanning facility for the first time,” said lead study author Meg Watson, MPH a cancer researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Really, Ms. Watson? It’s sure not much of a surprise to salon owners who again, see this as a great opportunity to get them started off properly with guidance in the importance of skin care, tanning in moderation and avoiding overexposure.
“An estimated 30 million people in the U.S. use tanning beds at least once a year, and they have approximately 25,000 tanning salons nationwide to choose from, according to another study recently published in the Journal of Cancer Policy.”
Hello? A recent study? Most of us know that (thanks in part to the Tan Tax and negative media like this release), the industry has not seen 30 million indoor tanners in 25,000 salons in perhaps as long as a decade. It was these same numbers from back in 2010 on which Tan Tax projections were based. In 2014, it was projected that the business-killing tax would generate over $300 million. In actuality, it was far less at $92 million. See more on this under indoor tanning at: https://taxfoundation.org. “Among youth who started using salons at age 16 or 17, about 42 percent went alone and roughly 32 percent went with a friend, the study found. Only 20 percent of teens this age went with a family member.”
Again, not a surprise. As these teen tanners edged into their 20s, they were less likely to bring along a family member when they went to a salon. Some of us may call this behavior “being a grownup.”
And it continued …
“The study adds to research suggesting that mothers may have an outsized influence on whether young people try tanning salons,” said Dr. Elizabeth Martin, president of Pure Dermatology and Aesthetics in Hoover, AL, and a clinical instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. This study strengthens what we already know, further demonstrating the importance of family attitudes and permissiveness toward tanning, and also shows the particular importance of maternal attitudes and permissiveness on the tanning behavior of those who begin tanning before the age of 16,” Martin, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
Alright; I agree with the importance of family attitudes. But, whoa! Stop right there on the “permissiveness” toward tanning! Dr. Martin clearly meant to reference indoor tanning. To connect some dots, let’s go back to the beach.
As I sat with my toes in the sand and gazed at the waves, I saw hordes of folks also enjoying the sun and surf … and hundreds of babies who were out there with me! Where’s the shock and horror from these same doctors who point fingers at indoor tanning as THE link between kids and skin cancer? Where are the calls for legislation, regulations and taxes aimed at these parents who knowingly and deliberately expose their kids to direct, mid-day sunshine? Consider all of the lakes, pools, ballfields and playgrounds where children can suffer from sunburn caused by overexposure to unregulated amounts of natural sunlight. Especially as UV intensity increases with closer proximity to the equator and reflective surfaces such as sand and water.
So, let’s move on to a final comment.
“I think the message for parents is clear: educate your kids early and often about the dangers of indoor tanning,” said Dr. Kathleen Cook Suozzi, a dermatology researcher at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, who wasn’t involved in the study.
But DON’T educate kids about the dangers of unregulated exposure to UV from natural sunlight? Messages such as those referenced in this story scream hypocrisy at those determined to destroy our industry.
Remember, for those who weigh the risks of UV exposure, thousands choose indoor tanning salons, where the risk of overexposure and sunburn are minimized by UV sessions delivered according to individual skin type and a timing system.
Source: http://wdez.com/news/articles/2017/mar/27/mothers-often-take-daughters-to-first-tanning-salon-visit/
Messages such as those referenced in this story scream hypocrisy at those determined to destroy our industry.
A 26-year industry veteran, Joe has taught certified salon operator training for the last 15 years, as well as advocating indoor tanning in many capacities. Joe is a sought-after speaker and presenter at both national & regional trade events, also interacting with the FDA, state & local regulatory agencies. During his most recent tenure with the ITA, he served as director of membership.
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