newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Tanning beds are a great idea... if you like that healthy, burnt to a crisp look.

Patricia Krentcil, who is being accused of bringing her 5-year old daughter into a tanning booth, believes critics are “jealous’’ of her beautiful tanned body.

Krentcil told the New York Post that she’s a great mother. She said, “There’s somebody out there my whole life that doesn’t like me because they are jealous, fat and they’re ugly.”

Another term has come up to describe Krentcil; she has been called a "tanorexic". According to MSNBC, a 2006 study found that compulsive sunbathers can receive a high from the ultraviolet rays they face, and suffer withdrawal symptoms when they stop tanning. The World Health Organization considers the UV rays a known carcinogen, and research says tanorexia can be as addictive as alcohol abuse or smoking.

According to ABC News, the owner of City Tropics tanning salon in Nutley that Krentcil uses who identified himself as Anthony, said Krentcil pays about $100 per month for unlimited tanning, and said she tans about 20 times per month, doing the maximum time of 12 minutes in a standup booth.

Krentcil insists the burns her daughter received are from a day spent gardening.

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New York dermatologist Joshua Zeichner told the New York Daily News, “Going to a tanning salon 20 times a month, frankly, is insane, especially with the public education and awareness campaigns on the dangers of tanning beds and skin cancers. She may need help to treat not only the damage to her skin, but also what is going on with her psychologically.”

Camden County authorities have said that Krentcil’s five-year probation in 1999 from separate charges of credit card theft, forgery, and writing bad checks had been terminated, according to the New York Post.

She is expected in court in June on child endangerment charges.