![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Jasmine_sun_safety_in_article_image.png\")
<\/p>\nWhy tanning trends popular on social media might be risky for young skin<\/p>\n
\u2b50\ufe0fHERE\u2019S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW\u2b50\ufe0f<\/p>\n
\tA recent study shows that as kids get older they practise less sun safety.
\n\tThis means more tans and sunburns are happening and experts say that’s not good for young skin.
\n\tFrom online influencers to friends, some young people say they feel the pressure to tan.\u00a0
\n\tDespite the pressure, two teens in Canada say staying sun-safe is important to them.
\n\tKeep reading to hear teen and expert tips on staying safe in the sun. \u00a0\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n
With summer in full swing, you might be headed outside seeking some sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But if you\u2019re thinking about leaving your sunscreen behind, you might want to reconsider.<\/p>\n
Just ask 15-year-old Jasmine Bhathena from Halifax, Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n
She went to a Halifax Wanderers soccer game last year and took home more than a win.<\/p>\n
She wanted to try tanning and ended up with a sunburn instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAny sunburn prior to the age of 18 will increase the risk of skin cancer by 30 per cent,\u201d \u2014 Elena Netchiporouk, McGill University Health Centre<\/p>\n
Thinking back to that day, Jasmine recalled that she could \u201cfeel the sun on my skin. It sort of burned and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, this is probably what a tan feels like, I\u2019ve never done it before,\u2019\u201d she told CBC Kids News in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lots of kids like Jasmine are feeling the pressure to tan due to social media and peers, but experts warn it could have impacts far beyond the trend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How kids are pressured to tan<\/p>\n
On social media, teens see influencers hyping up their \u201cperfect tan lines,\u201d said Jasmine.<\/p>\n
In Toronto, Ontario, 16-year-old Sabine Scurfield says she feels the pressure, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After getting a bad sunburn last summer, Jasmine now is more careful when she\u2019s out in the sun. (Image submitted by Jasmine Bhathena)<\/p>\n
\u201cI think tanning is also a very social thing,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you go to a pool party there\u2019s a lot of tanning happening and it is kind of awkward to be, like, the one in the shade.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Sabine prefers the shade and sticks with sunscreen as part of her daily self-care regime.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/sunscreen_stock_image.png\")
<\/p>\n
Experts suggest putting on a golf ball-sized amount of sunscreen to fully cover your body every two hours on all exposed skin and encouraging your friends to also be sun-safe. (Image credit: Kurt Desplenter\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n
For her, it\u2019s personal.<\/p>\n
Her grandfather died from skin cancer and other family members have been affected by the disease.<\/p>\n
So she\u2019s aware of the sun\u2019s impacts. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s this whole kind of push for teenagers to be tan, she said, adding that \u00a0\u201cskin cancer is not cute.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Next year, during her school\u2019s spring fling event, Sabine will host a sunscreen booth for her peers \u2014 giving out sunscreen and teaching her classmates about sun safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How these teens are staying sun safe<\/p>\n
Jasmine changed her mind about tanning.<\/p>\n
She puts sunscreen on exposed skin when she goes out.<\/p>\n
The same goes for Sabine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her routine involves tinted sunscreen with SPF 40 (sun protection factor).\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
That way she can look a little more tanned without the additional sun exposure risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a runner and a teen with an outdoor job on a horse farm, she also checks the daily UV or ultraviolet forecast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because, the higher the UV number, the stronger the sun\u2019s rays are and the quicker you can get a burn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Sabine_and_her_friend_applying_sunscreen.png\")
<\/p>\n
Sabine, right, and her friend use sunscreen as part of their daily sun-safe makeup routine. (Image submitted by Sabine Scurfield)\u00a0<\/p>\n
A UV forecast predicts the intensity of the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays based on things like time of day, location and cloud coverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sabine wears a hat, updates her sunscreen application every few hours and wears long-sleeved shirts when she can.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Experts weigh in on sun trends<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Holmes is the director of health policy at the Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charity for cancer research in the country, and is aware of peer pressure for perfect tans.<\/p>\n
She says one in 45 Canadians are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma (a serious form of skin cancer) at some point in their lifetime.<\/p>\n
![\"12](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tanning_social_media_post.png\")
<\/p>\n
A search of #tanning on TikTok shows that many young people are sharing their tanning tips on social media. (Image credit: TikTok)\u00a0<\/p>\n
She added kids like Jasmine and Sabine have the right idea, and they should feel empowered to positively influence their peers, rather than the other way around.<\/p>\n
Dermatologist \u2014 or skin doctor \u2014 Elena Netchiporouk works at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Quebec, and has studied the sun habits of kids and teens in Canada.<\/p>\n
According to her research, as kids get older, they become less interested in sun protection and more interested in tanning.<\/p>\n
This can be dangerous.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny sunburn prior to the age of 18 will increase the risk of skin cancer by 30 per cent,\u201d said Netchiporouk.<\/p>\n
That’s because young skin cells divide rapidly as kids grow, and any bad burn can cause skin cells to become cancerous down the line.<\/p>\n
Netchiporouk was one of the researchers behind a 2026 study that looked into sun exposure and safety practices among Canadian youth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She found that of the 7,139 youth (ages 12-19) surveyed, more than 40 per cent reported a sunburn in the previous year and more than 61 per cent rarely or never applied sunscreen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her solution?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Netchiporouk recommends wearing UV shirts, along with hats, sunglasses and applying sunscreen (with SPF 50) everywhere that is exposed every two hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While future skin problems might feel years and years away from affecting you, teens like Sabine want sun protection to be taken more seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to think about your future self,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\ufeff\ufeffHave more questions? \ufeffWant to tell us how we’re doing? Use the \u201csend us feedback\u201d link below. \u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why tanning trends popular on social media might be risky for young skin \u2b50\ufe0fHERE\u2019S WHAT YOU NEED TO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,84],"class_list":["post-824006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}