ITA Update: USA TODAY Ad Touts Benefits Of Moderate UV Exposure

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The Indoor Tanning Association (ITA) launched a pre-emptive strike today against those who will hype fears about the sun next week on “Melanoma Monday,” by running a national advertisement in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">USA</st1lace></st1:country-region> TODAY.

The text of the ad reads:

“Dermatologists and the sunscreen industry have spent millions on a deceptive campaign to scare Americans away from the sun. Now the tide of research is turning the other direction. The positive effects of getting vitamin D from sunlight are clear. So soak up a little sunlight—indoors or out—a couple of times each week, and get your recommended dose of the “sunshine vitamin.”

“The first Monday in May has, unfortunately, become an annual opportunity for the sunscreen and cosmetics industries, along with dermatologists, to wrongly scare people out of the sun,” says <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Sarah Longwell</st1:PersonName>, ITA Communications Director. “We think it’s time someone told the other side of the story. UV exposure has many health benefits, not the least of which is that it produces vitamin D.”

New studies show that vitamin D, which is produced by the skin when exposed to UV light from the sun or tanning beds, protects against a number of cancers, including colon and breast cancer, and also decreases the risk of heart disease.

A <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Harvard</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Medical</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType></st1lace> study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that 60 percent of Americans are vitamin D deficient.

“More science is emerging every day confirming the enormous health benefits of vitamin D and the significant health consequences of not getting enough of it,” continued Longwell. “Before we get carried away by the frightening stories being told by the sun-scare industry, let’s take a moment and remember the old adage, ‘everything in moderation’.”