Preventing sunburn in childhood is important to prevent skin cancer.

It is crucial to understand childrens sunburn and associated parental behaviours to advocate targeted interventions.

A study investigated sun exposure and parent-for-child sun protection patterns and their association with sunburn experienced in children.

• This online survey included 1299 parents of children (4-12 years).  
• Parental subgroups for children′s sunburn, sun exposure and several sun protection behaviours in two sun exposure settings (i.e. planned versus incidental) were spotted via Latent class analysis (LCA). 

The observations of the study were as follows-

• The preceding year was associated with frequent reports of sunburn (>40%).
• Recognition of the Four latent classes of sunburn exposure protection was done.
• Fair sun protection behaviours were stated by maximum parents
• A low level of protection behaviour was not associated with lower sunburn rates among the classes
• A high level of planned exposure (e.g. going to the beach) was linked with higher sunburn risk.
• Sun protection measures were frequently followed by Parents of younger children and those with more sensitive skin.
• More sunburn was observed among older children and those with more sensitive skin.

Thus this study explains the current scenario regarding childrens sunburn, based on parent-proxy reports. Clear differentiation in sunburn risk was not established, however several variables, relevant for prospective interventions were recognized.

Thoonen K, Passos VL, Schneider F, Vries HD, Osch LV. Children′s sunburn exposed: identification of sun exposure and parental sun protection patterns, European Journal of Dermatology, 2021;31(4): 538-48. DOI : 10.1684/ejd.2021.4100