Indoor Tanning Among Young Non-Hispanic White Females

Abstract

Indoor tanning is associated with an increased risk of skin cancer, especially among frequent users and those initiating use at a young age.1,2 Indoor tanning before age 35 years increases melanoma risk by 59% to 75%,1 while use before age 25 years increases nonmelanoma skin cancer risk by 40% to 102%.2 Moreover, melanoma risk increases by 1.8% with each additional tanning session per year.1 Melanoma incidence rates are steadily increasing, especially among young non-Hispanic white females, which may be due, in part, to indoor tanning.1,3 Currently, prevalence estimates of indoor tanning among this population are limited. Therefore, we examined the prevalence of indoor tanning and frequent indoor tanning (≥10 times) using nationally representative data among non-Hispanic white female high school students and adults ages 18 to 34 years.