Gen Z obsessing over dangerous early aughts obsession tanning

By now, we should all know that there’s nothing healthy about a tan.But, it seems Gen Z never got the memo, with a new and concerning trend around tanning emerging.Experts are now pushing young people to practice sun safety – with part of the responsibility falling in the hands of parents.Across platforms like Instagram and TikTok, influencers have begun not only promoting skincare routines and makeup routines, but now tanning routines.Videos of young women using tanning oils and monitoring the UV index – a measurement of the strength of the sunburn-producing ultraviolet radiation at a particular place and time – to use it as a tool, rather than a warning, are going viral, encouraging others to intentionally burn tanlines into their skin for aesthetic purposes.Professor Anne Cust, Chair of Cancer Council’s National Skin Cancer Committee, said that this is incredibly worrying to see.“It is very concerning to see this glamourization of suntanning culture, where young people believe tan lines are desirable and are on social media are seeking sunburns and suntans,” she said.“This behavior is dangerous as young people are purposefully exposing themselves to harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation and putting themselves at an increased risk of developing skin cancer.”Professor Cust noted that research shows almost 1 in 3 young Australians believe it’s fine to suntan at their age, and alarmingly, fewer than 1 in 10 are consistently using all five forms of sun protection.Whilst Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, fortunately, it is almost entirely preventable.   It’s because of this that Cancer Council has some pretty straightforward advice when it comes to protecting your skin – slip on protective clothing, slop on broad-spectrum, water-resistant SPF50 or SPF50+ sunscreen, slap on a broad-brimmed hat, seek shade and slide on sunglasses. This goes for any day when the UV index is at a level 3 or above – which indicate...