Senior men turning to tanning in their golden years

[Ezliving_Jim]

Senior men turning to tanning in their golden years

Still, indoor sun remains most popular with young women, new study finds


Shannon Proudfoot, Canwest News Service

Published: 3:30 am

It's not just teenage girls flocking to tanning salons despite potential health risks. While young adults are the heaviest users, a new study reveals that significant numbers of their parents and grandparents are hitting the electric beach, too.

"Most people think that adolescents and young adults are the only people that indoor-tan, and that's not the case," says co-author Carolyn Heckman. "Looking at adult indoor-tanning is relatively new."

Just over 20 per cent of people aged 18 to 29 seek out some faux-sun, according to the study from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. That drops to 14 per cent for people in their 40s, but eight per cent of adults over 65 are still tanning.

Women are more likely than men to frequent tanning beds, but the gender gap narrows with age -- and older men actually out-tan their female counterparts. Twenty-seven per cent of women aged 18 to 29 use tanning salons compared to just 13 per cent of men, but in the over-65 crowd, eight per cent of men tan while seven per cent of women do.

"There generally is more pressure in the culture in terms of women being attractive and using cosmetics to enhance their attractiveness," says Heckman, an associate member of the cancer centre. She speculates that tanning among women may taper off later in life as they become more concerned about wrinkles and sun damage.

There was also a higher prevalence of indoor tanning among people who smoke or drink heavily -- a correlation Heckman says may indicate they simply make risky lifestyle choices. Conversely, people who got more exercise were also more likely to visit a tanning salon, possibly because they tan to look better without recognizing the potential fallout, she adds.

"There's still a misconception among many people that the ultraviolet light that's in these tanning booths is somehow better than natural sunlight," says Hamilton, Ont., dermatologist Peter Vignjevic. "It's sort of like comparing whether it's better to smoke a pipe or smoke cigarettes -- they are different, but neither one is a really great choice."

He tries to dissuade patients from tanning at all, he says, but many shrug off his warnings or rationalize that they don't do it often.

The cancer centre study reveals that tanning goes on at all ages, but Dr. Vignjevic says it's early-life exposure that carries the greatest risk.

It's for that reason that the Canadian Cancer Society has endorsed a World Health Organization recommendation that people under the age of 18 be restricted from tanning beds, says Heather Chappell, the organization's senior manager of cancer control policy.

"Going into an indoor tanning facility, you never know what you're exposing yourself to, and you're causing damage that you might not see the results of for decades," she says.

A poll conducted for the society's Ontario division revealed that appearance plays a big role in young people's desire to tan, says Irene Gallagher, manager of public issues. Fifty-four per cent of girls and 58 per cent of boys in grades 7 to 12 said they look better with a tan, she says, and building a base tan or prolonging a tan are big draws.

"They believe it is a safe way to tan, when in fact, some artificial tanning equipment can emit UV rays that are five times stronger than the midday summer sun," she says.

The Fox Chase Cancer Center study was based on nearly 30,000 responses to the National Health Interview Survey. It will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

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