Effect of childhood and adolescent ultraviolet exposures on cumulative exposure in South East Queensland schools

Quantitative estimates of the childhood and adolescent erythemal ultraviole t (UV) exposure received in South East Queensland schools are provided in t his paper for age groups 0 to 6, 7 to 12 and 13 to 19 years, For the neck, hand and lower arm, sites of high UV exposure that are generally not covere d by clothing, 13 to 19 year olds received the highest exposure of the thre e age groups, followed by 7 to 12 year olds. Exposure for 13 to 19 year old s contributed up to 44% of cumulative exposure to 20 years of age, and expo sures for the 7 to 12 year olds contributed up to 31%, If the annual UV exp osure for these two age groups mere reduced to the average of all the age g roups, cumulative erythemal UV exposure from 0 to 20 years would be reduced by up to 16%, On the other hand, if mothers can protect their babies by re ducing the level of annual exposure to 30% of the annual UV exposure of the 7 to 12 year olds for the first four gears then cumulative exposure to UV to age 20 would be reduced by up to 19%, These data confirm the importance of targeting young age groups in public campaigns for sun protection.