A national survey of sun safety activities at US zoos

Skin cancer incidence in the United States has increased. Exposure to ultra violet radiation (WR) is a major risk factor for skin cancer. Every year, m illions of children with their families Visit outdoor leisure facilities su ch as toes where overexposure to UVR may occur. This study was conducted to assess the proportion of U.S. toes that provided sun safety activities dur ing the summer of 1998 and their willingness to incorporate skin cancer pre vention strategies at their facility in the future. A 56 item self-administ ered questionnaire was mailed to 140 toes accredited by the American Zoo an d Aquarium Association. A follow-up telephone survey was also conducted wit h 33 mail non-respondents. The response rare was 97% (N = 136), Results rev ealed that in the summer of 1998, only 5% of toes provided sun safety recom mendations to visitors and 25% of toes provided recommendations to their em ployees. The recommendations made most often to visitors and employees were to use sunscreen and wear protective clothing. Eighty-five percent of toes indicated interest in providing sun safety activities at their facilities in the future. The next step will be to design environmentally appropriate sun safety programs for toes and to encourage toes to implement these progr ams.