(miamiherald.com) Despite widespread warnings about skin cancer, more than one-third of all Americans — 36.9 percent — had at least one sunburn in 2004, and African Americans and Hispanics were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to suffer a burn.
Florida — the ”Sunshine State” — ranked only 39th in sunburn prevalence. The top states were not in the Sun Belt but in northern climes — including Maine, South Dakota, Michigan, Utah and Wyoming.
A new study released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said that nationwide, nearly 21 percent of Americans said they had had four or more sunburns in 2004 — a finding that alarmed dermatologists.
But the biggest surprise was about minorities. Sunburn prevalence was:
• 35.6 percent for non-Hispanic whites.
• 45.6 for Hispanics.
• 50.4 percent for non-Hispanic blacks.
The study blamed the discrepancy on some doctors’ tendency to aim anti-sunburn information more toward light-skinned patients than darker-skinned ones. And a tendency even among some dark-skinned people to believe they can’t burn.
People with darker skin, containing more melanin, probably do have more natural protection, said Dr. Lawrence Schachner, chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Miami Medical School.
[...]
”I thought we were less likely to get burned,” said Hoilette, who is black. “I thought white people would get burned more often.” (more…)
All during our recent trip to Hawai’i, my wife kept warning me to put on sun screen. I just dismissed it as “crazy talk” and kept right along enjoying the trip.
It wasn’t until we came back home did I see extent of sunburn on mostly my forehead (which at that point looked like the missing piece of my dad’s ol’ leather jacket).
