'More needs to be done' to protect children's skin

Parents and schools have a responsibility to come together to provide education to children on the threat posed to their skin by the sun.

That is the view of the British Skin Foundation's Bevis Man, who said many of the messages coming from schools at the moment are aimed only at mums and dads.

He noted it would help if some of this dialogue was instead conveyed directly to youngsters during their lessons.

"Some schools are very active in this area; others less so, though the best way of finding out if those messages are working will be to evaluate their behaviour as adults," Mr Man stated.

The expert suggested it is certainly worthwhile educating children about the danger of exposing their skin to the sun from an early age in a bid to ensure they understand how to combat the threat.

Pediatrics recently published a study that showed that many children lose the habit of applying sunscreen between their time at elementary school and junior high school.

Skin cancer treatment news : 6 February 2012