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Reality TV show cast could influence others to pursue a healthier relationship with the sun
Back in February, Dr. Deborah S. Sarnoff, a clinical professor of dermatology at NYU Medical Center and senior vice president of the Skin Cancer Foundation, showed the "Jersey Shore" reality-show stars photos of cancerous moles she'd removed from patients — and a head shot of a 27-year-old Italian-American woman who'd died of melanoma after regular use of a tanning bed.
Sarnoff tells NorthJersey.com, "These 'Jersey Shore' kids are in a lot of ways role models for the young kids coming up. ... Young kids are very impressionable at that age, and they equate that with cool."
Today, parents know to use sufficient sunblock for their children, and many grown-ups realize the dangers of ultraviolet radiation — both UVB rays, which causes sunburn, skin damage and potential skin cancer, and deeper-penetrating UVA rays.
Although spray-on tans are presumed safe right now, doctors say actual tanning, especially indoor, is not healthy. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, "a review of seven studies found a 75 percent increase in the risk of melanoma in those who had been exposed to UV radiation from indoor tanning before the age of 35."
On Style Network's "Jerseylicious, one young woman is so addicted to indoor tanning that she goes to a number of salons so she can exceed the recommended exposure.
ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," uses a professional spray tanner and a makeup artist who does "tan sculpting" for cast members. And Mahwah's Jaqueline Madden of VH1's "You're Cut Off!" says she used to tan on indoor beds, but switched to spray tanning because of stories about links to skin cancer and premature aging.
The "Jersey Shore" crew, living proof that too much tanning affects brain cells, has promised to switch to spray tans. Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi blasts the fact that Obama's health care reform bill included a 10 percent federal tax on indoor tanning, which went into effect last Thursday. She blamed that (not health concerns) for why she switched to spray tan.
— BOB HOLT, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
