Melanoma prevention - Evaluation of a health education campaign for primary schools

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational campaign aimed t oward limiting children's sun exposure. Design: Prospective, multicenter trial with before-after comparison. A scho ol-based campaign was presented as a game during a 4-week period (May 25 to June 1992) with primary school teachers as game hosts. Children were inter viewed with a standardized questionnaire in September before (1991) and aft er (1992) the campaign. Comparisons between the children's answers before a nd after the campaign were made using paired chi(2) tests and analysis of v ariance. Setting: Five French primary schools. Subjects: All children in their fourth year of primary school (228 children aged 9 years). Main Outcome Measures: Changes after the campaign in children's answers con cerning their knowledge, attitude, and behavior toward the sun during summe r holidays. Results: Compared with the precampaign answers, more children after the cam paign claimed to protect themselves from the sun with a hat (33.7% vs 23.8% ; P =.01) or sunscreen (34.8% vs 25.4%; P = .03), avoided going outside dur ing the sunniest hours (76.8% vs 66.0%; P = .02), reapplied sunscreens (22. 1% vs 10.6%; P < .001), considered that a T-shirt and shade provided better protection than sunscreen (82.7% vs 74.8%;P = .05), considered sunlight as a risk factor for skin cancer (74.9% vs 50.7%; P < .001), and spent signif icantly less time in the sun with their arms (P = .005), trunk, legs, and h ead uncovered (P < .001). Children with a fair complexion, who were the tar get of this campaign, showed the best improvement in their responses. Conclusion: Health education campaigns can be effective in terms of improvi ng the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of young children.