Sun protection practices in preadolescents and adolescents: A school-basedsurvey of almost 25,000 Connecticut schoolchildren

Sun protection practices in children and adolescents fall well below nation al recommendations. We present the results of a survey of sun protection us e and other health-related behaviors in a sample of Connecticut Caucasian s tudents aged 9 through 18 years (N = 24,645). Our objectives were to estima te the prevalence of sun protection use and to evaluate the relationship be tween sun protection use and health-risk behaviors and attitudes about appe arance. We present data from 1988 through 1995 from the Connecticut Health Check, a health risk appraisal survey sponsored by the Connecticut Departme nt of Public Health. Students enrolled in public and private elementary jun ior as well as senior high schools took the self-administered anonymous sur vey, which included multiple-choice questions about use of sun protection, cigarettes, and alcohol and about body image and self-esteem. We report pre valence proportions for use of sun protection by demographic features. We c ompared the proportion of students in 3 categories of outcome (always, some times, and never use sun protection) who reported various health-risk behav iors. Twenty percent of the sample reported always using sun protection; th is is well below national goals set forth in the Healthy People 2000 recomm endations. Sun protection use was inversely related to age and was higher a mong girls than boys at all ages. At all ages, students who did not use sun protection were more likely than those who did to report other health risk behaviors, such as use of cigarettes and alcohol. The data suggested that use of sun protection is associated with positive attitudes about appearanc e and self-image. Use of sun protection may be one component of an overall mode of health au awareness and behavior. Programs promoting safe sun pract ices should target boys and be integrated into an overall campaign aimed at other risk-taking behaviors.