Are Brits really getting the message about staying 安全な in the sun? Not on the Costas, it seems...

By Claire Coleman for The Mail on Sunday
Updated: 10:37 BST, 2 August 2010

最近の 研究 （人命などを）奪う，主張するs we're getting more sun savvy. If you believe the hype, we're slapping on the high-factor sunscreen, leaving the midday sun to the mad dogs, and carefully covering up. Except we're not, are we? We might be telling market 研究員s, and even ourselves, that that's what we're doing.

But, in fact, we're 存在 just as irresponsible in the sun as we Brits have always been.

Take Phoebe Richards, 17, whose 直面する? -? and 団体／死体? -? 攻撃する，衝突する the headlines a few weeks ago when her 肌 爆発するd into 抱擁する blisters on a flight 支援する from Portugal.?

Sun lovers: Sandra Richards and Debbie Banks show off their tans

She 主張するd she'd been careful in the sun during her two-week holiday in the Algarve.

And にもかかわらず admitting she had been 'a little bit burnt', she せいにするd the blisters to the 圧力 in the cabin, or an allergic reaction to the sun.

Cosmetic dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting is utterly unconvinced. 'I don't think there is anything in these images to 示す an allergic reaction to the sun, nor do I think that cabin 圧力 played a 役割 in the 開発 of blisters.?

'I think it more likely that this is 簡単に bad, blistering sunburn.'

But what about Phoebe's （人命などを）奪う，主張するs that she had stay ed out of the sun between the hours of 12 and 4pm? That she'd religiously plastered her 団体／死体 in factor 15 and 20 suncream?

'Either she wasn't using sun 保護 適切に, or she's kidding herself about her behaviour in the sun.'

The thing is, she's not the only one. Last week, I travelled to the Costa Del Sol with Dr Bunting to see whether Britons really are getting the message about safety in the sun. What we 設立する was genuinely shocking.

In the course of a 選び出す／独身 day on the beaches around the popular 訴える手段／行楽地s of Fuengirola, Marbella and Puerto Banus, we （機の）カム across 十代の少年少女s so desperate to get a tan that they were basting themselves in cooking oil; seasoned sun-worshippers scorching themselves for spurious health 推論する／理由s; and even 井戸／弁護士席-意向d parents, whose 試みる／企てるs at 保護するing their children could 現実に be 蓄える／店ing up serious problems for the 未来.?

Our trip 同時に起こる／一致するd with the first 十分な week of the school summer holidays and, にもかかわらず 推薦s that people 避ける the sun when it's at its hottest? -? between 11am and 3pm? -? at midday, with the 気温 at around 31C, the beaches were packed with families soaking up the sun.

Feeling the 燃やす: Tim Lloyd from Hitchin with his three children Thomas, Thillana and Naomi with their nanny Mandy スキート射撃

の中で the first people we spoke to were Debbie Banks, 50, and Sandra Richards, 57, friends from North むちの跡s.

They've been visiting this part of Spain for the past 25 years and, eight years ago, bought 所有物／資産／財産 in the area.

They now visit around ten times a year and, as their 深い mahogany tans 示唆する, they're 献身的な sun-worshi ppers.

'I love sunbathing and I do put cream on,' says Debbie. 'But the highest I'll go is a factor ten, and I suppose I'm not very good about putting it on over and over again.?

'Still, my 肌's used to the sun and if I had anything 悪意のある, like a mole or anything, I'd get it looked at.'

Dr Bunting is unimpressed. 'Her 肌's not used to the sun, it's 現実に 苦しむing from what's called actinic bronzing, chronic sun （危険などに）さらす over long periods of time which leads to this sort of 永久的に ひどく pigmented, 天候d 外見? -? a 調印する of 広範囲にわたる sun 損失.'

The British 協会 of Dermatologists recommends using a 最小限 of SPF 30, and how you 適用する it is 決定的な.

Most people don't use anything like enough lotion (use at least two tablespoons 価値（がある） to cover the whole 団体／死体).

'You sweat, you're in and out of the water and, even if it's water 抵抗力のある, it's not always towel 抵抗力のある,' Dr Bunting explains, 追加するing that you should 目的（とする） to reapply every 90 minutes.

Sandra thinks she's become more sun savvy with age, although she, like Debbie, doesn't tend to use much above SPF 10.

'I think you bury your 長，率いる in the sand about the 危険s when you're younger,' says Sandra.

'Now I use suncream more than ever because I am worried about 肌 癌.

She 追加するs: 'One summer, I did decide not to go out in the sun at all, but I was just 哀れな. I feel sad when I don't get a dose of 日光.

'Now, if the sun's out, I sit in it.' 'Besides, the sun's good for you, isn't it?' Debbie 追加するs. 'It gives you ビタミンs.'

In fact, if you're 苦しむing from Seasonal Affective Disorder (a 条件 that leads to 不景気 in the winter months) you don't have to sit in direct sunlight to 利益 from it and, while the 団体／死体 does need sunlight to produce ビタミン D, you only need to have your 直面する in the sun for 10 to 15 minutes, twice a week, to get all the ビタミンs you need.?

Ouch: A woman sits in the midday sun, seemingly oblivious to the 損失 it is doing to her 肌

But Debbie and Sandra were やめる typical of the holidaymakers we 遭遇（する）d. They knew that they were 危うくするing their health with their behaviour in the sun, but glossed over this with a combination of a perfunctory 使用／適用 of sunscreen and selectively remembered facts about the sun's 利益s.

その上の along the beach we met Nicola Cordt, 38, and her husband Simon, 37, from Luton, taking a long 週末 break without their children.

Nicola 認める that while she was careful to make sure her children never burnt in the sun, she was いっそう少なく diligent with her own 団体／死体.

'I start off with factor six and then when I get burnt I put on a higher factor. I know it's silly, but I feel better with a suntan,' she says. 'Of course I worry about 肌 癌, but not enough to change.'

However, even she 認める that the strong July sun had caught her off guard. 'We 普通は come a bit later when it's not やめる so hot and then I'll happily bake in the sun from 9am to 9pm.'

Simon, on the other 手渡す, says he doesn't 活発に 捜し出す a tan, usually 適用するs factor 20 and stays in the shade, yet he was also 明白に sunburnt.

'Again, Nicola knows that she's not 存在 sensible in the sun, but the worry is that Simon thinks he is,' says Dr Bunting.

'There's a real disjunct between his perceived behaviour in the sun and his actual behaviour.'

Many parents we spoke to, like Nicola, were conscientious about keeping their children 保護するd from the sun, even if they would happily 燃やす themselves.

But sun 保護 is a 複雑にするd 商売／仕事? -? and even with the best 意向s, we don't always get it 権利.

Like many parents we met, Tim Lloyd, from Hitchin, Herts, uses the once-a-day sunscreen, P20, on his three children Thomas, eight, Thillana, four, and Naomi, three.

'They say you can put it on once a day, but we usually 適用する it once in the morning and once after lunch.

'The children don't like having suncream on, so the より小数の times you have to do it, the better. And it 作品, they've never been burnt.'

But Dr Bunting has serious 保留（地）／予約s about once- a- day sunscreens. 'There are two main types of 肌 癌. 'The most serious is melanoma, or mole 癌. いっそう少なく serious, and more ありふれた, are nonmelanoma 癌s.

'We know that sunburn, which is 原因（となる）d by the UVB rays of the sun, 増加するs your 危険 for both types of 癌, and as a result, suncream has, 歴史的に, concentrated on 保護するing against UVB rays.'

However, more 最近の 研究 示唆するs that a different type of 放射（能）, UVA, could be a ticking timebomb.?

Long-称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 problems: 肌 癌 is the most 破滅的な result of （危険などに）さらす to the sun, but leathery 老年の 肌 is also a problem

'Unlike UVB, you can't 現実に see the 損失 it 原因（となる）s 即座の ly, but it's believed to play a 重要な 役割 in melanoma. 熟考する／考慮するs show that （危険などに）さらす to UVA-emitting sunbeds is 関係のある to an 増加する in melanoma 危険, so unwitting （危険などに）さらす to UVA 放射（能） now could lead to serious problems later.'

The SPF 人物／姿／数字 on sunscreen relates only to UVB, and while P20 and other 類似の 製品s do （人命などを）奪う，主張する to 申し込む／申し出 some UVA 保護, Dr Bunting's 関心 is that they 簡単に don't 供給する enough.

'In a way, it's almost worse because it なぎs people into a 誤った sense of 安全,' she says.

'At least if you're 燃やすing, you're 軍隊d to cover up, or stay out of the sun.'

井戸／弁護士席, that's what you'd think. We （機の）カム across Kate, 16, and a friend from Northern Ireland, holidaying with their parents. I was impressed to see Kate's 15-year-old friend was spritzing herself with factor 50.

But as we got closer, it seemed that にもかかわらず the high factor, she was noticeably sunburnt.

'I'm only using factor 50 because I burnt yesterday,' she explains.

We ask her what factor she was using yesterday and I'm truly shocked by her 返答.

'Cooking oil,' she tells us, showing us a 瓶／封じ込める of lotion that they've emptied and filled with oil.

'My parents would kill me if they knew what we were doing. They think we're wearing factor 15, not cooking oil.'

'It gives you 癌, but it makes you tan,' says Kate, shrugging her shoulders.

So today they're using factor 50 on the bits they burnt yesterday, and cooking oil on the bits that aren't yet burnt. 'I think you tan quicker if you 燃やす first,' says Kate.

She's not alone. A 最近の 投票 by the Teenage 癌 信用 discovered that more than a ４半期/4分の1 of 13 to 19 year olds deliberately get sunburnt in the belief their 燃やす will turn into a tan later.

Kate has a ぱらぱら雨 of freckles across her nose and I ask if she finds that her freckles get worse when she sits in the sun with cooking oil on her 直面する.

'Oh I don't use cooking oil on my 直面する,' she tells me. 'I use lemon juice. We did our 研究 on the internet and 設立する what would get us tanned quicker and what would get rid of the freckles,' she 追加するs.

'We'll worry about 肌 癌 later if it happens, we just prefer the way we look when we're tanned.'

Given just how many people 特記する／引用するd 改善するing their physical 外見 as their 推論する／理由 for wanting a tan, it was staggering how few made the 関係 between things such as wrinkles and age 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs, and their （危険などに）さらす to the sun.

We were frequently told: 'That's just part of getting old, it happens to everyone.'

In fact, によれば Dr Bunting, around 70 per cent of the 調印するs of ' ageing' that we saw were attributable to sun （危険などに）さらす.

'It might be natural, but it's also 全く preventable,' she says.

But the real つまずくing point is that a tan is still perceived as healthy. From a 医療の 視野, that notion is as ludicrous as 示唆するing walking around with bruises from 長，率いる-to-toe is 望ましい.

'A tan is a 調印する your 肌 is 損失d,' says Dr Bun ting. 'But it seems people aren't getting that message.'

Costa Del Sol holiday: Nicola and Simon Cordt were keen to 保護する their children but いっそう少なく worried about themselves

Perhaps, more worryingly, I feel that people are getting that message but are choosing to ignore it. によれば 癌 研究 UK, 肌 癌 is not only the most ありふれた form of 癌 in the UK, with six people a day dying from the 病気, but also one of the fastest growing.

However, because of the length of time it takes for these 癌s to develop, what we're seeing now 反映するs what we did in the Seventies and Eighties.

It will be some １０年間s before we see how our 現在の sun behaviour translates into 癌 統計（学）. But 裁判官ing from our trip, things aren't going to 改善する.

The sun 損失 that we 証言，証人／目撃するd on the Costa Del Sol is just a short-lived, superficial souvenir of a combination of self-delusion and 混乱.

What's more 関心ing is that it could be the predictor of a lethal 遺産／遺物 in the 未来.

Because, in many ways the 状況／情勢 is worse than it was in the Seventies. At least a 世代 ago, we genuinely had the excuse that we didn't know any better. These days it seems we're wilfully playing ロシアの roulette with our health.

Somehow, dying of ignorance is いっそう少なく shocking than the prospect of dying of vanity.