Video on skin aging inspires teen sunscreen use

By Ronnie Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Teenagers felt more compelled to apply sunscreen if they saw in a video that it could protect their skin from premature aging than if they saw that it could protect against cancer, a new study shows. “Vanity is more of a driving force to use sunscreen, as opposed to the fear factor of developing skin cancer,” the study’s lead author, William Tuong, told Reuters Health. In his study, high school students applied sunblock three times as often if they watched a video showing how it could prevent their skin from wrinkling than if they watched a video showing how sun exposure causes melanoma. Fifty Sacramento 11th-grade students participated in the study and saw one of two educational videos urging them to lather on sunscreen.