EDUCATING PRESCHOOLERS ABOUT SUN SAFETY

Objectives. This feasibility study examined whether a sun safety curri culum designed for and administered to preschoolers affects their cogn ition (knowledge, comprehension, application) regarding sun safety. Me thods. Twelve classes of 4- to 5-year-olds were recruited from local p reschools and randomly assigned to an intervention group or a central group. The intervention group received an investigator-developed sun s afety curriculum; the control group did not. Children in both groups w ere tested at the beginning of the study about their cognition related to sun safety. They then received posttests 2 and 7 weeks following t he pretest. Results. The curriculum had a significant effect on the kn owledge (P = .01) and comprehension (P = .006) components of cognition . The application component of cognition was not significantly changed by the curriculum. Conclusions. A structured curriculum was found to be an efficacious means of enhancing knowledge and comprehension of su n safety in preschool children. At the preoperational developmental st age, however, children may not be able to apply such knowledge and com prehension.