Just three episodes of severe sunburn before reaching the age of 20 more than double the risk of melanoma in adulthood<\/p>\n
More than eight-in-ten young people experienced sunburn in the past year, with Gen Z the generation most likely to use harmful sunbeds.<\/p>\n
A new survey commissioned by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) found that 84 per cent of Gen Z respondents burned their skin at least once in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n
This alarming figure is up from 73 per cent in 2024 and 66 per cent in 2023. Teenagers and young adults are also the least likely to use protective measures (beyond sunscreen) and the most likely to use sunbeds.<\/p>\n
Studies have found that the skin\u2019s exposure to UV rays during the first 10\u201315 years of life has a disproportionate impact on lifetime skin cancer risk. Just three episodes of severe sunburn before reaching the age of 20 more than double the risk of melanoma in adulthood.<\/p>\n
\u201cSunburn is not a minor inconvenience\u2014it is visible evidence of skin damage that accumulates over time,\u201d said NCCP consultant in public health medicine Dr Breeda Neville.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want young people, parents, schools, sports clubs and workplaces to help make sun protection a daily habit, not an afterthought.\u201d<\/p>\n
The findings were released as the NCCP and Healthy Ireland launched the 2026 SunSmart campaign, a nationwide initiative aimed at reducing Ireland\u2019s rising rates of skin cancer by empowering people of all ages to protect their skin.<\/p>\n
More than 11,000 cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in Ireland each year. However, almost all of these are preventable. The SunSmart campaign highlights how simple, everyday actions can significantly reduce the risk of getting the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cSkin damage doesn\u2019t only happen on holidays in hot climates,\u201d said Dr Bl\u00e1ith\u00edn Moriarty, consultant dermatologist at St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Ireland, the sun is often strong enough to cause harm\u2014even on cloudy days. Spending time in the shade, wearing protective clothing and regularly applying sunscreen are essential.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust one bad sunburn can damage your skin\u2019s DNA and increase your lifetime risk of skin cancer, including melanoma. That risk is even higher when burns occur in childhood or adolescence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just three episodes of severe sunburn before reaching the age of 20 more than double the risk of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[168772,168773,103,61,60,20064,136730,20066,168774,65876,168775],"class_list":{"0":"post-376727","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dr-blaithin-moriarty","9":"tag-dr-breeda-neville","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-melanoma","14":"tag-national-cancer-control-programme-nccp","15":"tag-skin-cancer","16":"tag-sun-protection","17":"tag-sunburn","18":"tag-sunsmart"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}